Movie Review: Rami Malek Is Coming For That Oscar In 'Bohemian Rhapsody'

Let me start off with a quick disclaimer. While Queen is still active today, their biggest presence was largely before my time. I know their big hits, but none of the deep cuts. I know a handful of the details surrounding the history of the band – and frontman Freddie Mercury. And I think that explains why I thought this was a better movie than many others did. While I have no doubt those criticisms are fair, that was not the lens through which I watched the movie. So fair warning, if you’re looking for a more nuanced review, this probably isn’t the review for you.

While I did like the movie, it still had its fair share of missteps. For the most part, it comes off as a fairly boiler-plate rock-band biopic. And that’s especially disappointing given the band in question. You have a one-of-a-kind band led by one of the most electric and enigmatic performers in history in Freddie Mercury. This is something you can catch on to regardless of how well you know Queen and their history. Yet it’s the same band that makes this “standard issue” biopic sizzle more than it would have had the band been a more run-of-the-mill rock band.

As for what’s good, there is no doubt that Rami Malek’s portrayal of Freddie Mercury is the best part of Bohemian Rhapsody. He does most of the heavy lifting here. And to his credit, he is able to raise this movie up quite a bit off of his performance alone. While Malek gives far and away the best individual performance, Rhapsody is at its best when you have the whole band together. Their dynamic is so natural and fun, it’s a treat to watch. But when the focus shifts to Freddie’s personal life – in what should provide some of the most compelling aspects of the movie – it falters. You can tell there is plenty more to explore there and yet the movie stops short time after time.

No matter how much you know about Queen going into the movie, it’s evident there were missed opportunities. The movie actively chose not to take any risks. And Queen was a band that seemingly did nothing but take risks. It leaves a feeling of wanting for more. And that’s never a feeling you want to have after watching a movie.

This aspect is what many people seem to have a problem with. And I can see it from their point of view. It’s one thing to watch a movie and know it could have gone more in-depth into a unique and engaging character. It’s another to see that all while knowing the specific details the movie is leaving out. But like I said, I went in knowing some – far from all – of those details. So this didn’t stand out as such an egregious oversight to me.

And of course there’s the music. Queen gave us some of the most well-known songs (across all genres, not just rock) of all time, and Rhapsody makes sure those are included. That being said, the way some of the songs are incorporated comes off a little cheesy. We are shown a number of songs (I won’t spoil which ones) during their creation process. While the sequence for “Bohemian Rhapsody” (not a spoiler, you see some bits in the trailers) is a particularly fun sequence, the few others feel more like fan service scenes rather than moments that drove the film forward.

With the music comes the performances. Regardless of your feelings on the rest of the movie, I think everyone would agree the musical performances are the standout scenes here. Each and every one knocks it out of the park. And with what should be surprising to no one, the rendition of Queen’s legendary Live Aid performance is the best of the bunch. That 20 minute set has been called the greatest rock performance of all time, and the cast here nailed it. It certainly helped that the cast learned the entire set beat for beat, talked about here in an interview with Yahoo!. I’ve included a video of the actual performance at the end of this review. It’s almost 25 minutes long but I promise it is worth it.

All in all, while Bohemian Rhapsody had the story and the talent to be a truly great and possibly iconic film, it falls short by playing it safe, making a traditional band biopic film. But the cast – led by Malek’s Oscar-worthy performance – and the musical performances make this a very fine movie, one well worth seeing.

Oscar hopes: There is some hope here. Malek should garner some interest in the Lead Actor category. But outside of him, Rhapsody’s hope likely lie only in the technical categories.

Lead Actor: Rami Malek – I’d say unlikely given how many great performances we’ve already seen and how many big-name actors have movies still to be released. But he did crush it, no doubt about it. And Hollywood seems to love real-life portrayals.
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