A Near Flawless Disappointment: Bohemian Rhapsody
Darren Lang
Darren Lang
This may have been the best a PG-13 commercial film about Queen there could have ever been. I say this both with praise and disappointment. Praise because, despite a few obvious flaws, this film was incredibly entertaining. Disappointment because, although the quality it seems great on the surface, the movie lacks essence, failing to capture the true spirit of Queen; especially it’s main member Freddie Mercury.
This film stars Rami Malek (known for his leading role in the TV series, Mr. Robot), playing the lead role of Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of the widely popular band Queen. It chronicles the band as it first shows when Freddie first got the part of lead singer of Queen. The chronology continues with the creation of their songs, Freddie’s unhealthy lifestyle which eventually led to him contracting AIDS, and climaxing at the band's legendary performance at Band Aid in 1985.
Despite some obvious criticism that I will later get into, coming out of the theater I am still overjoyed that they decided to make Freddie Mercury's life into a biopic. He had an interesting life. Going from a Pakistan teen with buck teeth to the multi millionaire icon singer is an exciting rag- to-riches story. His life also includes tragedy. When he was first diagnosed with AIDS, it quickly led to his death at the age of only 45. Another rock n’ roll star who left us all too soon. This all adds up to an interesting story.
Bohemian Rhapsody definitely has it’s great aspects. Most notably, Rami Malek in the role of Freddie Mercury is electrifying! His presence is always felt on screen. Through his iconic look, way of speaking, catchphrases (Darling!), and body language. Rami shares the same presence on screen as Freddie did on stage, really adding a personal depth to the character.
The film also includes more than a fair share of comedic moments, mostly coming from the dialogue between Brian May, the guitarist, and Freddie Mercury. The characters in this film always seem to have something funny and light hearted to say at the right time. Look at this set of dialogue for an example:
Brian May: That's a nice fancy dress, Fred.
Freddie Mercury: I've got to make an impression, darling!
Brian May: You look like an angry lizard!
It’s dialogue like this that helps make the film entertaining and enjoyable to a wide audience.
Yet another aspect that really made this film stand out as something great was how it portrayed the live performances. Almost magically Queen’s concerts big and small communicate triumphs for the characters, humor, and powerful emotions. The director makes the camera work truly pop and bring out the energy of Freddie Mercury. The film has a wide variety of great music to use, and how creatively they used it! The music heightens all the elements of Queen’s on stage presence.
Despite how many things this film gets right, there are some considerable flaws. One being the pace. For a film dealing with decades of strong detailed material, two hours and fifteen minutes seems almost too short. This definitely shows, as the film seems to jump around from highlight to highlight in the band's career, never truly going in depth into the events. Another major flaw with this movie, is the fact that it is a PG-13 commercial film. This majoraly hinders the film, as it glosses over all the sex and drugs that had an impact on Freddies life. It’s quite interesting then when considering that this film was originally meant to star Sacha Baron Cohen (Famous for portraying the raunchy character Borat) and was meant to have a hard R rating. Some people however feel that this kind of biopic would be problematic and not have nearly the amount of wonder as this film did. That is certainly possible, however I feel that by actually portraying Freddie Mercury how he was it would have humanized all the more, giving more weight when it affects his life, and adding depth to where it was lacking before.
I can’t help but think back to a scene in this film where the song Bohemian Rhapsody was first shown to a music producer. The dialogue was as follows:
Ray Foster: It goes on forever, six bloody minutes!
Freddie Mercury: I pity your wife if you think six minutes is forever.
Somehow I feel as if the same situation happened with many of the producers of this film, rejecting anything risky that could affect how much money this film made. Instead of doing something daring and exciting, like all of Queen’s music did, filmmakers decided then to stick with something much more conventional and in the process did not encapsulate the spirit of Queen.
This film stars Rami Malek (known for his leading role in the TV series, Mr. Robot), playing the lead role of Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of the widely popular band Queen. It chronicles the band as it first shows when Freddie first got the part of lead singer of Queen. The chronology continues with the creation of their songs, Freddie’s unhealthy lifestyle which eventually led to him contracting AIDS, and climaxing at the band's legendary performance at Band Aid in 1985.
Despite some obvious criticism that I will later get into, coming out of the theater I am still overjoyed that they decided to make Freddie Mercury's life into a biopic. He had an interesting life. Going from a Pakistan teen with buck teeth to the multi millionaire icon singer is an exciting rag- to-riches story. His life also includes tragedy. When he was first diagnosed with AIDS, it quickly led to his death at the age of only 45. Another rock n’ roll star who left us all too soon. This all adds up to an interesting story.
Bohemian Rhapsody definitely has it’s great aspects. Most notably, Rami Malek in the role of Freddie Mercury is electrifying! His presence is always felt on screen. Through his iconic look, way of speaking, catchphrases (Darling!), and body language. Rami shares the same presence on screen as Freddie did on stage, really adding a personal depth to the character.
The film also includes more than a fair share of comedic moments, mostly coming from the dialogue between Brian May, the guitarist, and Freddie Mercury. The characters in this film always seem to have something funny and light hearted to say at the right time. Look at this set of dialogue for an example:
Brian May: That's a nice fancy dress, Fred.
Freddie Mercury: I've got to make an impression, darling!
Brian May: You look like an angry lizard!
It’s dialogue like this that helps make the film entertaining and enjoyable to a wide audience.
Yet another aspect that really made this film stand out as something great was how it portrayed the live performances. Almost magically Queen’s concerts big and small communicate triumphs for the characters, humor, and powerful emotions. The director makes the camera work truly pop and bring out the energy of Freddie Mercury. The film has a wide variety of great music to use, and how creatively they used it! The music heightens all the elements of Queen’s on stage presence.
Despite how many things this film gets right, there are some considerable flaws. One being the pace. For a film dealing with decades of strong detailed material, two hours and fifteen minutes seems almost too short. This definitely shows, as the film seems to jump around from highlight to highlight in the band's career, never truly going in depth into the events. Another major flaw with this movie, is the fact that it is a PG-13 commercial film. This majoraly hinders the film, as it glosses over all the sex and drugs that had an impact on Freddies life. It’s quite interesting then when considering that this film was originally meant to star Sacha Baron Cohen (Famous for portraying the raunchy character Borat) and was meant to have a hard R rating. Some people however feel that this kind of biopic would be problematic and not have nearly the amount of wonder as this film did. That is certainly possible, however I feel that by actually portraying Freddie Mercury how he was it would have humanized all the more, giving more weight when it affects his life, and adding depth to where it was lacking before.
I can’t help but think back to a scene in this film where the song Bohemian Rhapsody was first shown to a music producer. The dialogue was as follows:
Ray Foster: It goes on forever, six bloody minutes!
Freddie Mercury: I pity your wife if you think six minutes is forever.
Somehow I feel as if the same situation happened with many of the producers of this film, rejecting anything risky that could affect how much money this film made. Instead of doing something daring and exciting, like all of Queen’s music did, filmmakers decided then to stick with something much more conventional and in the process did not encapsulate the spirit of Queen.