Bohemian Rhapsody is a musical biopic drama film. The plot revolves around the life of Queen front-man Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek), his rise to fame, his years with Queen and then his death. This film pulls no punches where that latter period is concerned, I have heard people criticise it, but I think it deals with his aids diagnosis and death in a dignified way.
Before I get into the review, yes, I know this film was directed by a prolific abuser, but it can still be enjoyed as a film in spite of that fact.
My first impression of Malek’s Freddy was that I didn’t like him, I didn’t like what Malek was doing with him, I thought it was cheesy and over the top. However, over the course of the film, especially towards the end, I had a drastic change of heart and Malek really won me round with his performance: he particularly excels in the film’s emotional moments.
What’s more this film reminded me how much I like Queen and their music, each one of their most famous songs were used and in a way that made them feel relevant, rather than in other musical biopics when they feel forced in for the sake of it. I particularly thought ‘We Are The Champions’ was done beautifully in the context of the film.
My one issue with the film is that it has too many characters. This film is supposed to be a Freddy Mercury biopic and for the most part he does get centre stage, but at the same time there are a lot of needless sub-plots and side characters that I found to be distracting. In that same vein I found the moments of the film where the focus shifted to the other members of Queen to be dull, this is after all a story about Freddy Mercury, this to me felt like the surviving members of Queen forcing themselves in, as they were heavily involved in making this film.
Overall, I think this is a great musical biopic, it did everything you would want a biopic about Freddy Mercury to do, it gave you a look at his life and at him as a person. The songs I thought were used to good effect and my only critique is that it could have been more organised and focused.
Pros.
Malek.
The Songs.
A good look at the man behind the band.
Didn’t stray away from darker areas.
Cons.
Too many characters that stole focus.
4.5/5
Reviewed by Luke
Another Millennial Reviewer 