Bohemian Rhapsody – Movie Review

movie reviewYou cannot make a movie about Queen with just making it about Freddie Mercury. But you could make a movie about Freddie Mercury without going into too much Queen stuff. Now Bohemian Rhapsody is a film about Queen. Yes, its central figure is (of course) Freddie Mercury. But its also about the band. So, from what I gathered, a lot of critics decided to say that it’s not a good film because the film decides to go for the more fun aspects of the bands history. While watching the film I already knew that ‘critics’ will not like the fact that Freddie’s story isn’t treated as personal as it could have. And yes, even as someone not too familiar with the personal life of Freddie Mercury, I understand that there would have been a lot more room to explore. But do we really need that in this film? Freddie’s struggles are covered enough I think. And again, it’s not a movie solely about him. It’s about the band.

The film starts with Freddie’s family and him struggling to handle the situation he lives in. He’s clearly not happy but you can see in his eyes that he’s got some plans he wants to execute. We can also notice an uncertainty that he is not exactly sure how to move on. As pretty much always destiny strikes when Freddie (Rami Malek) meets Brian (Gwilym Lee) and Roger (Ben Hardy). Brian and Roger’s band just fell apart and Freddie seizes the opportunity, talks to Brian and Roger and manages to convince them to try it with him as a singer. Brian and Roger are reluctant but blown away by the power and performance Freddie is able to bring up and they don’t think twice. The band still neds a bass player and finds one with John Deacon (Joseph Mazzello). The band soon is on track to produce some of the most iconic pieces of Rock music in history. While all that is going on and the development of the band in their early years is shown, we also focus on Freddie a little more again. His personal life and his conflicting feelings in regards to his sexuality. In these parts you could argue that the film could have taken a slower approach to show a more buanced picture of who was Freddie Mercury and what he had to deal with. That’s pretty much the only criticism I have for this film. But for this film, that is as equally about the band as it is about Freddie, I’m fine with it. What follows is the history of the band up to Queen’s legendary 1986 Live Aid performance. We see the band struggling with the corporate side of the music business and with artistic decisions. And in the end even get a very valuable hint for artists in any field. And that is the fact that you always need critical people around you. You need people who reign you in when you go overboard. Freddie always wanted the most freedom possible. And when he got it he was as depressed and uninspired as never before in his life. So, this movie even has some lessons for the audience.

The technical aspects of the film are fine. Here and there we have some very obvious green screen scenes that could have been executed a little better. The acting from all involved works really good and the actors who play Queen have a good chemistry. The protrayal of the 70s and 80s looks authentic and the historic scenes (especially the Live aid part) were done as accurate as possible. It’s a film that needs to be seen with a good sound system. The music mix was fantastic in Dolby Atmos and really gave the movie some extra punch.

Will the film win any awards? Probably not. But it’s a really fun ride throug the history of one of the best bands we ever had. I’m sure we will eventually get a more personal biopic about the person that was Freddie Mercury. This movie is not that movie. It’s more about fun than drama. And the fun moments have a great impact and really are a lot of fun.

7.9/10

Bohemian Rhapsody on IMDb

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