Bohemian Rhapsody
Director: Bryan Singer
Screenplay: Anthony McCarten
Minutes: 134
Year: 2018
Score: 7.60
Release: 20th Century Fox
I hate to lead with this but it unfortunately seems to be glazing every aspect of this movie. I have always struggled with how to enjoy a film which is plagued by reprehensible activities of the director. Hundreds of people worked on this movie so avoiding something on moral principal has a negative effect on the other film workers. Of course, when a movie is just okay it isn’t too difficult to ignore, as long as you ignore it for the right reason.
From FoxMovies.com: (amazon)
Bohemian Rhapsody is an enthralling celebration of Queen, their music, and their extraordinary lead singer Freddie Mercury, who defied stereotypes and convention to become one of history’s most beloved entertainers. Following Queen’s meteoric rise, their revolutionary sound and Freddie’s solo career, the film also chronicles the band’s reunion, and one of the greatest performances in rock history.
Beatles aside, Queen is the only band where I don’t remember a time when I was not a fan. At the time I didn’t really know much about the band members themselves and a younger Jason would have been put off by the lifestyle of Freddie Mercury. I am glad that I had matured before I learned more about them. This makes me feel like an old man when I suggest that knowing the music without being plugged into a feed of the bands brand seems like the smart way to love music.
These four men were musical virtuosos who made the music that made them happy, seemingly. Thinking back I wish I didn’t see this movie. I have no umbridge with any of the members of the band or the people in their hemisphere but I like the legend more that I liked the movie.
Freddie Mercury was a force of nature. He was composed of stardust and burned brighter than the sun. I never doubted that he had struggles and would be naive to dream that to be true. But I don’t think I wanted to see that. This is not to diminish them, but like I said, I prefer the legend and would prefer to imagine the rainbows that poured out of Mercury’s mouth entrancing and haunting anyone who hears it.
There are too many controversies to know where to start and there are also typical film flaws to address. My main issue with the film is that with all of the bombast of Mercury the film is dreadfully dull. It is very difficult to zero in on why this is. The performances, for the most part, are all exemplary, the music did not let me down, and the cinematography was strong in many places. But, I was so bored watching the film. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if it was two movies. One a drama and one a musical. Or maybe how American Splendor handled the David Letterman scenes by cutting to the actual footage of the show.
Now, during the drama scenes I think that Rami Malek was incredible as Freddie. It is very possible that my personal relationship with the music of Queen made this an impossible task and I know that Malek is not singing and I would not want him to be. It’s really an impossible task, but it is the one he chose. Through most of the performance scenes the vocal sync was, just, off. That issue kept taking me out of the film and I kept wondering (hoping) if it was an authoring issue but the drama scenes looked fine, part if the issue could have been the mouth appliance, too, I don’t know.
The controversial issues, on the other hand, I could have lived with if there was a different cut of the film. It isn’t really a Queen biopic, it was a Freddie biopic. They could have had less of the rest of the band to add more of the racier aspects of Freddie’s life. Or they could have spent less time focusing on the straight marriage scenes because they are disproportional in time with the gay scenes. Either of these cuts would have probably ruined the film at the box office, so I can respect that. But, the more you look at cut choices in the terms of box office business, the further you will get from art. I have not problem with this, it is essential and that is fine, but someone has to accept the difference.
I thought the film handled the AIDS theme pitifully. I understand that they wanted to end the film with the band on the top, but there was still a lot of good Queen after Live Aid which they could have used to inform audiences of living with AIDS, again though, that would have crushed their box office hopes.
Is Bohemian Rhapsody a good movie? Sure, I have watched much worse. Is it worth the hype? No. I won’t suggest that it is not worth your time, my opinion may be unjust due to my relationship with the music, your opinion could be wildly different. I do hope that you can look beyond the grossness of the director to give the rest of those involved the time of day.
Special Features:
- The Complete Live Aid Movie Performance Not Seen in Theaters (featured in 4K Ultra HD HDR on the 4K Blu-ray Disc)
- Rami Malek: Becoming Freddie
- The Look and Sound of Queen
- Recreating Live Aid
I did not watch the Live Aid bonuses, I was ready to move on after a 2+ hour movie, but I did watch the Becoming Freddie and the Look and Sound of Queen featurettes and they both added to the experience enough to change my overall opinion a little.
Director: 7 – Cinematography: 9 – Edit: 6 – Parity: 5 – Main performance: 8 – Else performance: 6 – Score: 10 – Sound: 8 – Story: 8 – Script: 6 – Effects: 8 – Design: 9 – Costumes: 10 – Keeps interest: 9 – Lasting: 5
Yes, I do recognize that my statement of looking beyond grossness of a director is diametrically opposed to my opinion of Woody Allen and this makes me a hypocrite. I can accept it though.