Review of Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) by The3Academysins — 04 Nov 2018

For a biopic on a band that went against the musical formula, the film Bohemian Rhapsody is depressingly formulaic. This movie feels more like a cash-grab for the surviving members of Queen than an honest look at the band or Freddie Mercury. In that vein, Freddie Mercury's portrayal is ultimately the downfall of the film.

On one hand, Raimi Malek does a great job portraying the legendary frontman. On the other hand, Bryan Singer's direction is lazy, the script is bad and the movie drags along, spending way too much time on Mary Austin for one thing, but the biggest problem with the script is this: It feels like Queen is trying to take credit for Freddie Mercury being as good as he is, and that is just not the case in real life. Also, there is not nearly enough music in this film. I left the theater feeling unfulfilled.

The movie Bohemian Rhapsody feels a lot like a serious Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. This is not a compliment. Bohemian Rhapsody is contrived, way too safe (the PG-13 rating is indicative of this) and way too boring. This should have been a straight-to-Netflix movie, and it really does feel like that. This is easily one of the most disappointing movies of the year. I would have given this a 4 if it were not for Raimi Malek's performance, which places this movie at a low 5.