A Critique on Bohemian Rhapsody

Rating: 6/10 (17 November 2018)

Let me start this by saying that I am a huge fan of Queen. I love Freddie Mercury, Brain May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon. I even dressed up as Freddie for Halloween one year. Point is, I love Queen so I was naturally excited for this movie. I don't believe it's as bad as everyone says it is, but I don't think it's as amazing as the general public is making it seem either. This movie has very obvious and frustrating but also has incredible things in it. Firstly, Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury is perfection. I saw Freddie Mercury reincarnated. He nailed everything about him including his mannerisms , the way he talks, his body movements, literally everything. I also really liked the moments we got with Brain May and Roger Taylor, even though they don't get much character. I can't say anything about John Deacon because honestly he doesn't have a character here. He's only in this movie because he's the four member of Queen. He doesn't get a single thing to do and always gets picked on by other characters. Everyone in the movie does a good job as well, and the whole Live Aid segment gave me so many chills you don't even know. Where this movie frustrates me is their depiction of when things happened. They act like they've never collaborated with David Bowie or Michael Jackson, they tell us News of the World came out in the 80s when it was released in the 70s, and Freddie wasn't diagnosed with aids until 1987, after 1985 which is when he's diagnosed in the movie. They also never mention Jazz, Flash Gordon, and skim over most of their albums.
This is Queen. One of the most influential bands of all time. You have to accurately present information to the audience. This movie also has classic cliches, which very easily comes across as lazy. As they say in the movie, Queen isn't like every other band. Queen IS Queen. I just wanted to quickly share my opinion on the movie after seeing it twice. This movie had so much potential to be one of the best of the year. We get stuck with something which I do like, but still wanting something better. I'm very curious to see what the Sacha Baron Cohen version of this movie would've looked like, but unfortunately we probably will never see that version. I still recommend seeing this movie to anyone who's a fan of Queen, just don't expect something great from this movie.