Just another band bio-pic

Rating: 6/10 (19 January 2019)

I love movies based on real life bands, but this one's just pretty typical.
"The Doors" was fantastic because it explored the good and the bad of Jim Morrison. Anytime you tell a story you need to explore the faults of the protagonist and really dig into them in order to have a compelling story. Another great example was "Walk the Line."
"The Runaways" was horrible. Joan Jett was one of the producers so it's no surprise the character Joan Jett was flawless in every way, she was just a victim the whole time. "Straight Outta Compton" should have been an examination of a group of truly talented and unique rappers, again it was produced by Dr. Dre and Ice Cube and no surprise, the characters of Ice Cube and Dr. Dre were flawless people who were victims the whole time. This just isn't compelling story-telling.
"Bohemian Rhapsody" breaks from the recent band biopics (like, "the Runaways" and "Straight outta Compton") where the main character does have genuine faults and though they're not explored in a gritty way, they are present and that's more compelling. However, the surviving members of the band are flawless (No surprise, they're producers on the film), and they seem too present throughout the movie. It seems to all be about the band and not as much about the culutural significance of Freddie Mercury who ended up becoming a hugely significant icon.
I'm not a champion for gay-rights or AIDS victims. It's just not a cause I've been interested in doing volunteer work for, however, Mercury and the impact of the disease (especially during this time period) is a far more powerful and important story to tell than the band "Queen". I'm not suggesting making "Philadelphia" with the best soundtrack ever, but I don't think this movie is as grand and as important as Freddie Mercury would have wanted it to be.
Overall, it's a pretty lower-mid level production without much imagination in the directing. I think it needed to take more chances. (That's not a knock on the director, sometimes the studio is at fault for this.) There's nothing "bad" or "wrong" with the film, but there's nothing that stands out. There's no moment when the hair stands up on the back of your neck, when it should. When Queen took the stage in real life, it was electric and it happened every time.
The acting is good. I think Rami is a tremendously talented actor and I'm very thankful he got this opportunity to show off his talents in a lead role on the big screen.
Hopefully, there's another film that really dives into Freddie's life and can truly give a glimpse into the seediness of the scene during the 80's and show the horrors of the AIDS virus (and ultimately show Freddie forcing the conversations of both and how important it was.)
If you own a Queen album, you pretty much have to watch this movie.