After numerous changes to the cast and crew, Bohemian Rhapsody has finally hit theatres, and the end result is a bit underwhelming. I did enjoy the movie, but it is not without some prominent flaws. The film is directed by Bryan Singer technically, although he was one of many to be called out during the me too movement and was fired, and filming was finished by Dexter Fletcher. The movie follows the history of the iconic band Queen, but more specifically frontman Freddie Mercury.
Let me start with one thing that I can give credit to all around. The acting is pretty great. Rami Malek plays Freddie and I'm assuming is a lock for a best actor nomination. He fully commits himself to the role, mastering the larger than life personality that Freddie had. He is accompanied by Gwilym Lee as Brian May, Ben Hardy as Roger Taylor, and Joe Mazzello as John Deacon. Lee is really fantastic, and despite the great work of Malek I found him to be the most compelling actor on screen. He fills the role perfectly and delivers a great performance. Hardy is quite good, handling the ups and downs of his character well. My only issue is that both emotionally and physically I didn't feel much change or growth from him, and with the film spanning over a decade I felt like he looked too young by the end of the film. I'm a die hard Jurassic Park fan, so I was really excited to see Mazzello in this film. While he is obviously much older now, you can still see some Tim Murphy in him, and that allowed me to really gravitate to his character. Jurassic Park love aside I think he did a great job, managing to stand strong amongst the other band members despite not being developed as much. Aidan Gillen and Mike Myers both have small roles in the film, but when on screen they were both magnetic. The one actor/character I had issues with was Allen Leech as Paul Prenter. Performance wise I wasn't very impressed, Leech did nothing to make Paul compelling, but that isn't where my issue lies. Paul is a very important person in the story, but he isn't really introduced. He kind of just shows up and after a while of lurking around everything someone calls him Paul and up until then I had no clue who the guy was.
The issue residing in Paul's character is an issue that plagues a lot of the film; underdevelopment. The first act of the film is fun and has a great energy to it, but seems terrified of developing much plot or character. Things just quickly happen and instead of seeing a band work hard to make it big, we seem them fly through hardships with little problem. Luckily the energy is really strong, as the actors, director, and music all work cohesively to build up excitement. Unfortunately there comes a point in the second act where all of that energy dissipates. The film still opts to not develop things, and without the exciting energy of the beginning of the film it just gets dreadful. Important things transpire and I found it impossible to give the slightest of cares. If the film kept this energy going I would have honestly walked out pissed off, because I was loathing that portion. Luckily things turn around towards the end. The film finds its energy again and we are treated to a magnificently crafted recreation of the Live Aid concert, and some truly compelling moments beforehand. The lead up to the concert is also developed somewhat well, so the final act really saved the film. One other technical issue I have is how the story was told. Queen is a very unique and different band, and the film-making doesn't reflect that. The story is told generically, giving us just the greatest hits as the band rises from nothing to become superstars. There are many pointlessly lengthy scenes that offer nothing narratively, so there is time in this film to flesh out important moments more and make this film something really great and special, but that just doesn't happen.
The first act is solid, the second act is awful, and the third act is pretty great. I have a lot of issues with the film but the ending impressed me enough to call this a good movie.
Rating: 3/5
Written by Matt McKenzie
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