Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

Although I love many of their songs, I wouldn't call myself a Queen fan as I barely know a thing about the band other than Freddie Mercury dying of AIDS. That's the reason I wanted to see Bohemian Rhapsody, to learn more about them. But Bryan Singer happened to direct it and, having no intention of giving that "man" money, I skipped the theatrical release and waited for it to be online. And I'm glad I did that because I'd rather burn my money than pay to see this. 

Anyways, as you probably guessed, the film tells the story of the legendary British rock band Queen, from their very rapid rise through their revolutionary sound and songs that were destined to become classics to the band's struggles to find a way to keep the band together as Freddy Mercury's (Rami Malek) wild lifestyle starts to spiral out of control.

As I mentioned above, I don't know much about Queen's story so I can't really say whether the film is accurate or not —although many reviews I've read online suggest that it's not, that it depicts the events not chronologically but to fit the narrative the filmmakers went for. I can judge the storytelling though, and Bohemian Rhapsody has one of the worst storytellings of 2018 as it's uninteresting, uncompelling, and tremendously boring.

The film could have got away with that though with strong characters. Of course, Bohemian Rhapsody and strong cannot co-exist in the same sentence as the characters in here are thin, uninteresting and unlikeable. It's therefore hard, if not impossible to develop any kind of emotional connection with them. 

As for the acting, I have a question for the Acamedy: what acting? Because Rami Malek sure isn't portraying Freddie Mercury in here, all he does he reproducing several peculiarities of Mercury and it feels like watching a caricature, a parody almost, rather than the real artist. He really looks like the real thing but he just doesn't feel like him. Also, I wouldn't put my money on it, but I'm pretty sure Malek does not the singing unless he nailed Mercury's voice and by nailed I mean sounds exactly like him. Hence the question, why award such a mediocre performance?

20th Century Fox

As for the technical aspect, I have another question for the Academy: where's the Oscar-worthy editing? The editing in the stadium scene couldn't look any more unprofessional than that. It's not like the rest of the editing is any better though as it is sloppy and inconsistent. The cinematography, while it isn't dreadful, is barely mediocre and there's absolutely nothing captivating about it. The only redeeming aspect of Bohemian Rhapsody? The songs, the only thing the filmmakers had no power on.