Bohemian Rhapsody Review.

Mamma Mia.

Whenever someone asks me who I prefer between The Beatles and The Rolling Stones my answer has always been Queen.  The charismatic frontman, the stadium anthems, the guitar riffs, the genre shake ups and all the masterful albums, I adore everything about them. In fact, they were the first band I ever used my own money to buy their album when on my 10^th birthday I bought their greatest hits collection (for those of you wondering my first ever official album was The End by The Black Eye Peas.). The journey for Queen to get on the big screen has been rocky to say the least. Sacha Baron Cohen was dropped from playing Mercury due to the actor wanting to go further into the wild side of Mercury’s life but was told no by Brian May (Queen member and Producer of the film) as he wanted to protect the bands legacy. Bryan Singer, who gets to keep his directors’ credit, was fired from the film in December for not showing up on set and having intense fights with Bohemian Rhapsody’s lead Rami Malek.  After years of mishaps and controversies Bohemian Rhapsody is finally released but can it match the greatness of the band or is it a flop? I’m devastated to say this, but this film does not top the charts.

Bohemian Rhapsody tells the story of the formation of Queen and the years leading up to their epic Live Aid performance. The film narrative opens strongly, falls flat for a long middle and picks things up for an epic finale. The first act which is used to introduce us to the characters is probably where the film is at its best in film terms. The opening is fast paced and introduces us to the cast in brief little moments which doesn’t let some of the more wooded performances stick out. Seeing how Farrokh Bulsara became Freddy mercury is an intriguing journey to go. Aided by a terrific Rami Malek performance, which we’ll get to later its fascinating to see the first glimpses of popstar creep out of the at times anxious Mercury. The films runtime is a little bit over 2 hours, but half an hour should have been cut out because the middle of this film feels like an eternity. There's a point in the film where you can basically hear the breaks of the fast-paced story screech to a halt. This could be because the film starts to spend more time on the supporting cast who for the most part are not on the same level as Malek. It’s not often I get bored in the cinema but there’s a large portion of this film which really could’ve been trimmed down. Thankfully the finale of the film is where things go right for the film, I think. VAGUE SPOILER ALERT: A twenty-minute live aid performance is where the film finally makes Queen feel like the epic stairs they were. I’m slightly conflicted however, as I don’t think that I enjoyed it for the movie itself but more so for the music. It’s a large chunk of the film dedicated to their set and it’s the best part of the film but not because the actors besides Malek are giving it their all for the first time but because of music that their lip syncing. To me if I was watching lip sync battle id be amazed by how good they were in the sequence but as a film fan I don’t think it makes up for a clunky film.

Rami Malek gives one hell of a performance as Freddy Mercury. Malek certainly looks the part thanks to his prosthetic teeth and the wardrobe department knocking it out of the park. Mercury is one of pop cultures biggest icons of all time. To be able to capture the enigmatic singer’s ego, humour and uniqueness on paper is an impossible task but Malek does the impossible. I Was sceptical at first when I heard the casting because at first glance the actor looks nothing like Mercury. Malek nails every aspect of the character and manages to elevate the character past a weak supporting cast and a even weaker script. His take on Mercury is so good that there is no reason why he won’t be a leading man in Hollywood for many years to come. Lucy Boynton as Mary Austin also shines in the film, the Sing Street actress gives a terrific emotionally charged performance as Freddie’s life long friend. The only other actor I feel who stands out is Mike Myers who off the back of a handful of scenes shows that he is still more than capable of stealing films. The rest of the cast is extremely disappointing, especially the other members of Queen. Gwilym Lee comes closest to capturing the magic as Brian May thanks to a tremendous wig but May comes off as a yes man whose gullibility never makes the character believable. Joe Mazzello as Ben Deacon is barely even in the film, whenever he does appear he’s condescending and acts as intellectually superior for no apparent. Ben Hardy as Roger Taylor is the biggest miscast of all in the film. The atrocious wig isn’t even the worst thing about the character, Taylor is written as a playboy but Hardy never comes close to selling it, the audience I was part of had so many laughs from his dreadful line delivery. Now I may be a bit harsh on these performances, but this is a Hollywood film where your casting actors from Midsomer Murders, G.I. Joe: Retaliation and EastEnders as the men to carry Queens legacy? The casting just isn’t good enough. Malek is the only one who belongs in the cast, the others feel like a tribute band you’d catch in your local pub.

The problem with the film is that it doesn’t address the 3 big issues that it needed to address properly, Queens fallout, Freddie’s Sexuality and Freddie’s downward spiral. Each one of these issues is diluted down beyond belief. The inner fights in Queen are portrayed in the film as being down to song titles and Freddie’s ego. Now it kind of feels that since Mercury isn’t around to defend himself that their shifting the blame onto to him. The film never paints any of the other members as a bad guy which gives uneasy feeling. The whole film is plays it safer than I thought was possible. Mercuries sexuality is given the subtlety of a Bull in an art house. From playing Under Pressure while he debates his sexuality, to having him stare bewildered at a men’s bathroom sign is sloppy. His sexuality could have been explored much father and never delves into its full potential. Allen Leech as Paul Prenter is turned more and more into a soap opera villain as the film progresses. Mercury is a man whose troubled years resulted in crazy stories which never see the light of day in the film. The way they handle the singers Aids diagnosis is so mishandled I almost spat my coke out in disbelief. Part of me feels that having Brian May on board as a producer is a bad move because I can’t see any way that this film came out of the original script that Anthony McCarten wrote.

Bohemian Rhapsody is saved from being a total disaster by its leads Malek and Boynton (who both deserve so much more) and a terrific score. Overall however, this is a crushing disappointment to me. Sloppy direction, miscasting, a diluted script and horrific editing is not the movie that the fans of Mercury deserved. Now many of you are going to love this film and that fine but I can’t recommend this film. You would be much better off investing into Queens discography to listen to the beautiful music the band wrote instead of the safest biopic I’ve ever seen. Or better yet YouTube their Live Aid performance because it’s the best part of the film but again you’d be much more entertained by watching the real thing. Bohemian Rhapsody is not my best friend I don’t want this film to live forever.

Liam’s Summary of Bohemian Rhapsody.

Best Moment: Malek and Myers bouncing off each other in an amazing argument.

Worst Moment: SO MANY MONTAGES.

Best Character: This is Malek’s film so obviously Freddy Mercury.

Worst Character: Roger Taylor is somehow a worst performance than Hardy gave in X-Men Apocalypse

Overall Rating: 2/5