Bryan Davis
Staff Writer
Even with its incredible performance from Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury, “Bohemian Rhapsody” turned out to be a generic biopic that doesn’t seem to do service to the band Queen.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s an entertaining journey that will have you tapping your feet along to the irresistible bass line of “Another One Bites The Dust,” but something felt missing.
It felt very rushed, containing little to no backstory on any of the characters.
It does an excellent job of reminding you how many hit songs Queen has made, while placing the band dynamic and the complexities between each of its members in the back seat. The movie seemed more interested in promoting Queen rather than offering a raw inside look on how they changed the genre of rock-and-roll and showing us what made them unique as a group.
Most of the film felt like a montage of them making all of their hit songs, sprinkled with too few scenes delving into what’s behind those songs.
I couldn’t help but wish it had been more emotional and heartbreaking, but instead it glosses over the emotion to quickly play the next hit song for the audience.
All the emotion the film has comes from Malek. He carries this movie, giving the exuberant and energetic performance of a lifetime, making his Golden Globe win for Best Actor well-deserved.
In the beginning of the film, we are introduced to Freddie Mercury working as a baggage handler at the airport, and within 15 minutes or so he thrusts himself into the band.
The pacing has some issues, but Rami Malek’s performance might distract you from that. Right off the bat, we see how interesting Freddie is as a character, with Malek holding us tightly in his grasp for the entire runtime.
Keep in mind that this is more of a Freddie Mercury movie than a Queen movie. So if you go into this expecting to see a comprehensive behind-the-scenes look at the band, you might be a little disappointed.
Although it is his movie, it still feels a little shy of a comprehensive look at Mercury himself.
Even with the spot-on prancing around on stage and flamboyant personality, they still left out a deeper look inside the tortured and pained character.
It shows his rise and his downfall and very quickly shows his rise again towards the end of the movie, bringing us to the highlight of the entire film in my opinion: the massive Live-Aid concert. I felt as if I was watching the actual band perform their set as they played in entirety about three or four of their songs.
This movie could’ve been much more, but that doesn’t make it a bad one thanks to the lead performance. It had the audience laughing, cheering and rocking along with the band on-screen.
If you love Queen, or even just like a couple of their songs, you’ll have a fun time seeing this one. Rami Malek is worth ticket price alone, giving his all to this movie. I would be shocked if he doesn’t get the Academy Award nomination for this one, and I definitely would not be surprised if he wins.
Because of him, I highly recommend going to see this movie. You won’t be let down.
