Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

Rating: 5/10 (25 February 2019)

Following Queen's historic rise from a London-based college-band to stadium-filling Rock royalty, Bohemian Rhapsody is a glossy re-telling of the band's major milestones and works. Audiences get to witness the genesis of fan-favorite anthems such as We Will Rock You and Another One Bites the Dust yet are rarely afforded a true and honest glimpse behind the curtain. Lead-singer Freddie Mercury, fully embodied here by actor Rami Malek, lived a life of countless interesting stories, yet the film settles for highlighting each of them instead of fully-examining any (Freddie's loneliness, sexuality, or ultimate battle with AIDS) in-depth. In fact, the film is almost completely devoid of an actual story, exemplifying the pitfalls of a plot-over-story approach to filmmaking.
The music, on the other hand, an amalgamation of Malek's, Mercury's, and Marc Matel's (a Mercury impersonator) voice hits all of the right notes. And speaking of hitting the right notes, Bohemian Rhapsody contains a rare Mike Myers sighting (behind a wall of makeup, no less!). Yet ultimately, Bohemian Rhapsody is nothing more than a crowd-pleasing music video - entertaining to watch while great music is being played but lacking any substance to become the preferred listening method.