Review of Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) by Simonferocious — 18 Dec 2018

This film is a good example of where the "Hollywood" sensibility of sacrificing truth for narrative didn't work out in the favor of the filmmakers. Admittedly, I was no Queen expert going into this movie.

I went into the theater as a huge fan of the music while lacking a broader knowledge of the band's history. Having said that, I couldn't shake the feeling that almost all the thematic and narrative choices in this movie were just that, intentional choices made by the filmmakers to tell a mostly fictional story.

Doing a quick Youtube search after viewing proved my instincts correct. The worst part about their trade of truth for story? The story just wasn't all that good. While never really giving a chance for anything to be fully fleshed out, the filmmakers attempted to show Mercury as a superhuman talent, a larger than life personality, and a flawed but tragic individual all while ham fisting wonderful songs into oddly fitting "origin stories" because it fit some executive's formula for a biopic.

The two saving graces of this picture are the casting and the music. Although, Malek is shamefully underutilized as Freddie Mercury, he does get several chances to shine through and rise above this mirky money grab to show you what could have been.

Speaking to the second saving grace... if the best thing about a movie is the catalog of music that inspired anyone to care about the topic matter in the first place, wouldn't you rather just listen to the music? Yeah, me too.