Oh boy. As a fan of Queen, on and off for around 38 years now (as of writing), it was with a blend of joy and fear that I went in to see this biopic. Mostly joy though, because I never had that near Jesus like admiration for an artist or a band, that seem to have befallen the likes of Freddie Mercury, so I can detach myself emotionally from those I adore artistically. I guess it helps with the deification for those who are that way inclined, when the artist dies very prematurely in controversial circumstances. In any way, neither the plot or the story would be of any surprise to me as I know most everything about the band´s music and it´s history beforehand.
This movie have been in the mold for almost a decade, with change of lead character and even a firing of the director during principal photography. When it came out it was hammered by the critics and fans a like. But if there ever were a band who never quit when things were rough and very used to critics hating them, it is Queen. It is nicely referred to in the scene where DJ Everett premiered the infamous track Bohemian Rhapsody 14 times on live radio, as critique quotes overlays. It eventually ended up staying at the number one spot on the charts for 9 weeks in a row even if nearly only the band themselves believed in it. It has become one of if not thee most important piece of rock music since The Beatles.
We start of with Freddie Mercury leaving for the 1985 Live Aid concert (Yes I sat there on that day 34 years ago waiting for Queen to get on). Then we flashback to 1970 and Freddie shoving suitcases in an airport, to establish the time-frame the movie will cover. I like these types of memory lane sort of framing, even if they do hint a bit too much at sentimentalism, which will also be the major critique of this biopic.
It is clear that some shortcuts will be needed when you set out to cover a 15 year period of one of the major bands in history. The haircuts, songs and more are often out of sync with real chronology but I am fine with that kind of artistic freedom. It is natural that a character like Freddie Mercury, with all his complexity, sexuality problems and dying from AIDS, should get the center focus of the movie. What concerns me more is the overblown focus on his relation with Mary Austin. Yes she probably was a great friend of Mercury´s, but it takes way too much focus from, say the three other band mates. It is a weakness in recent times of movie-making, that "obscure" female characters, have to be overexposed in biopics of great male personalities, to satisfy a female audiences.
Secondly, the three other band mates are generally mostly used as slightly goofy, comic reliefs or passive aggressive commentaries to Freddie and not very much the brilliant and creative musicians they were. The director and producers clearly did not go for a fan service movie but a mainstream, simplified and rather sentimental portrait of the band and Freddie. One of the major critiques I have seen is that the movie does not dwell enough on Freddie´s homosexual relations and private life in general. Personally I think they dwell too much on it. The third part before the "fourth" live aid part is basically all about Freddie´s private life and not the band. This means that when they have released Bohemian Rhapsody in 1975-76 there are at least 5 albums of music not covered or only just slightly referred to while dealing with Freddie´s private life. It is a bit of a wet towel in your face after a good start up until the release of Bo Rhap.
I just don´t find the man´s girl- or boyfriends that interesting, when we are dealing with one of the most important musical artists of the last half decade. It is the growing emotional social justice warrior, LGBTQxxxx movement that has to be catered to I guess. It is in this regard a missed opportunity I am sad to say and I will be skipping over the part from 1975 to 1985 every time I re-watch the movie, because it is boring and sentimental. Now to the good parts. Rami Malek plays the part of Freddie Mercury very well i must admit. They did go for making the lead actor looking exactly like the character and therefore you must expect viewers to judge whether or not they succeed. Mostly they do, but at times, mostly early on, there is something not quite right in the looks. When we get to the time of Bo Rhap it is better and at Live Aid it is all but a spitting image of Freddie himself. It is quite jaw dropping how close they got to the looks and the postures of Freddie and the band. They have choreographed the whole set-list in the minutest detail. I guess this is where the Oscar material for Malek is to be found.
Watching the movie in the theater I can say that I was entertained and that I left the theater with a good overall feeling. This is never going to be considered a biopic masterpiece, but it does succeed in the almost inhuman task of making something that is coherent and joyful out of the history of this band, without completely spilling the beans and that must be applauded. I guess I most have been happily surprised that the initial reviews that landed after the premiere were largely ignorable.
It is certainly not fan service but a mainstream, slightly superficial and rather sentimental fantasy about the band Queen. I will probably mostly want to revisit the movie for the Live Aid part which is by far the crowning achievement of this biography. The Show Must Go On :-)
7/10
