Rami Malek's Stellar Performance is Undermined by a Superficial Look at Queen

Rating: Null/10 (12 January 2019)

If I am being honest, I am massively disappointed in this film, and I think my rating is being extremely generous. While I think Rami Malek delivers one of the most heartfelt and transformative performances I have ever seen, I feel like the script and entire plot was rushed, making the entire flow of the film kind of awful. As a previous reviewer stated, "Rami Malek was too good for this." I do not deny or regret that Malek be nominated for any Best Actor award, but having Bohemian Rhapsody as a whole win for Best Film is absurd. How can this film possibly win Best Film at the Golden Globes over A Star is Born and If Beale Street Could Talk? Are you kidding me? Like I said, the acting from Malek is exceptional, but the film as a whole is painfully average.
Now, I did not have the best knowledge of Queen as I went into the film, but I could tell from the get-go that the film was rushed. In a matter of only a couple of minutes, Freddie Mercury went from working at an airport, to meeting band members at a pub, to forming Queen, to literally one year later. What in the actual hell? I would actually argue the first half of the film was actually bad in many instances for trying to include so many things at one, which made the story so muddled and feel so quick, which is not a good thing at all. There were way too many things trying to be included at once, which made the flow and pace of the film to feel horrendous.
Thankfully, the film slows down in the second half, but that first half left a really bad taste in my mouth. I think the film really shines with every single performance, especially the We Will Rock You scene and the Live Aid concert. All of the musical performances in the film were absolutely excellent, and I will never forget any of it. I was pumped up and I was truly feeling it. But in between all of the performances, whether in the first half of the film or the latter, was a bunch of plot points that I did not really care too much for, and I was sometimes even kind of bored. My favorite plot points included the record deal with Ray Foster (played my Mike Myers), the formation of several songs (including "Bohemian Rhapsody"), and the emotion surrounding Mercury's diagnosis of AIDS. However, the plot point I had a hard time liking was Mercury's relationship with his wife because it was hardly even developed, that when any emotion was attempted, I had a hard time caring, despite how phenomenal the performances were.
Again, every musical performance here was excellent, the Live Aid performance was phenomenal, and Rami Malek transformed into Freddie Mercury, but the plot was so muddled, that it heavily distracted me. Regardless, I have learned a ton about Queen and am currently listening to every album they recorded, and plan to do so with every artist who performed at the Live Aid Concert in 1985. So I guess I can thank the film for that.
I also forgot to mention how horrendous the CGI audience looked at the Live Aid concert. I was cringing when the focus was not on Queen. It was The Scorpion King level bad in regards of CGI.