Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) Review

"We are the champions, my friends!"

-Freddie Mercury

Bohemian Rhapsody is a biopic that follows the life of Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek).  It shows us the creation of Queen, the production of some of their greatest songs, the complicated romantic relationships Freddie had over the course of his life, and leads up to the greatest rock performance of all time at Live Aid.

What Works:

The highlight of Bohemian Rhapsody is without a doubt Rami Malek as the legendary Freddie Mercury.  In every scene, Malek oozes Mercury and brings the flamboyant character back to life.  You 100% buy into Malek's performance and he is utterly incredible in the role.

The rest of the cast is great as well.  All of the rest of the musicians in Queen do a solid job and add to the story, especially Joseph Mazzello, who is really funny as the most level-headed member of the band.  Allen Leech is great as Freddie's personal manager and lover and Tom Hollander is surprisingly funny as the band's lawyer.

The direction is surprisingly great considering the production problems this movie had with original director Bryan Singer getting fired just a few weeks into production.  Dexter Fletcher stepped in to complete the film and did a really solid job.  Some of the imagery and the presentation of some scenes were great and I have to give the filmmakers credit for doing such a good job in less than ideal circumstances.

I really enjoyed seeing the background of how some of the band's more famous songs were created.  There are some really cool moments behind "Bohemian Rhapsody", "We Will Rock You", and "Another One Bites The Dust".  The sequences are really fun and are some of the most interesting parts of the movie.

I thought for sure that this movie would skim over the aspects of Freddie's sexual and romantic life, but that is the stuff the film delved the most deeply into.  They address his relationships with both men and women and it isn't common that the lead character of a mainstream major motion picture is portrayed as bisexual.  They could have easily dodged around this part of the story and I'm really glad they didn't.

The climax of this film is nothing short of epic.  We get to see Queen's performance at Live Aid, which is frequently called the greatest rock performance of all time.  The band performs four songs and they are all extremely exciting.  It ends with "We Are The Champions" and the performance is incredible.  It's my favorite musical performance of the film, filled with passion and emotion, and is a great way to end the film.

What Sucks:

I will admit that I didn't love the first act of this movie.  It's a little too hokey and silly for me to buy into.  But when the film starts showing the production of their first album, it gets much more interesting.

Apart from Freddie's sexuality, the film never takes a deep dive into anything else.  It's mostly a surface level film and brushes past a lot of different characters and relationships.  The film is 2 hours and 14 minutes, but I think it should have been longer, which is rare.  Most movies should be shorter, but I would have loved for this movie to go deeper and darker than it did.

Verdict:

Bohemian Rhapsody is a very fun movie, especially if you are a fan of Queen.  Rami Malek is amazing in the role, the song performances are fun, and the 3rd act is epic.  I wish they would have gone further in some places and I didn't love the first act, but this movie has got it gong on.

 8/10: Really Good