Bohemian Rhapsody Review

A Lazy Excuse to Listen to Queen Songs

Rami Malek and Gwilym Lee in "Bohemian Rhapsody"

Bohemian Rhapsody | Directed by Bryan Singer | Drama/Biography | PG-13 | 2 H 14 MIN

Written by Anton Charpentier

If I told you that there would be a Freddie Mercury biopic set to the hit songs of Queen, you like me would probably think that it was a recipe for successes. This isn’t the case with Bohemian Rhapsody. I’ll be frank, this movie was not good, and it upset me to my very core. I honestly thought of just writing the word “NO” in lieu of actually writing a complete review for this movie because I hate it so. Yet, here I am writing this review, completely exhausted, and emotionally dead on the inside, partially because of this movie.
 
I think it should be said that the director of this film has been accused of sexual misconduct on numerous occasions and is about to walk away from the film with 40 million dollars in bonus checks due to the box office successes; this news upsets me as well. But I understand that films are made of its parts and there are talented people who haven’t done anything wrong who worked on this film. The standout being Rami Malek, who once again delivers a noteworthy performance in his rising career. His role as Freddy Mercury is done with nuance and commitment that allow us to buy the characters motivations along this incredibly spotty screenplay. Although, the obvious lip singing is just as much of a standout as his emotional delivery of his lines.  I want to be clear, Malek does a great job and I’m disappointed that literally every other aspect of the film lets him down time and time again.
 
Sitting there watching this movie months after the hype and celebration of it made me feel like movie theatre chains were putting psycho-active drugs in their drinks. The film makes no attempt in actually being visually interesting and falls back onto cheap CGI and iMovie levels of weird animated text. I refer to the scene in which reviews for the titular song Bohemian Rhapsody fly across screen. To which my reaction was my eyes rolling back into skull. The occasional relief came whenever another one of Queens greatest hits began to play. Unfortunately, that becomes stale eventually and by the time Another One Bites the Dust starts to play I wanted to leave. None of these faults compare to those that disrespect historical accuracy and the bare minimum attempt to incorporate LGBTQ+ messaging into the film. The film makes a bold choice to simply make up s*** about Mercury’s life. Including many aspects about his relationships with his ex-wife Mary Austin and his partner Jim Hutton.
 
After thinking about this film for the last 24 hours, it baffles me that the film is receiving the award attention (especially considering the movie is made by someone accused of sexual assault). Look I don’t even know how to explain how bad this movie is and it’s not like the film has any redeemable qualities to speak of other than Malek’s dedication. My recommendation is that you never watch this movie and move on with your life, because at the end of the day you’d probably forget about it anyways.

​Watch the Official Trailer Below