Bohemian Rhapsody Movie Review

Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

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Written by: Anthony McCarten and Peter Morgan (story by), Anthony McCarten (screenplay by)
Directed by: Bryan Singer
Starring: Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, Joseph Mazzello, Aidan Gillen
Rated: PG-13
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Plot
The story of the legendary rock band Queen and lead singer Freddie Mercury, leading up to their famous performance at Live Aid in 1985.

Verdict
This has more than a few shortcomings as a movie, but the musical performances and soundtrack manage to overcome a movie that's a little more than a collection of bullet points. Performances of the songs, which are great, are linked by perfunctory scenes. This is a concert performance with numerous intermissions, and it's only those performances that makes this worth watching.
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Review
I wondered why this was called Bohemian Rhapsody since it covers Queen's entire arc and not just this one song. That and this is a Mercury biopic. I suppose it's better at revealing the subject of this movie as the title of Queen might lead some to think this is about the royal family, but this song also epitomizes Queen's legacy. They created a unique sound, uncompromising in style or length. It was a song to be bigger than anything else, and that's fitting.

This has a good looking opening, showing Mercury getting ready to go on stage at the '85 Live Aid concert. We only see him at the edges of the frame and from behind as we follow him backstage and then onto stage. This scene is replayed at the end. Easily one of the better scenes of the movie because it takes time to build anticipation.

This covers a lot of ground in a very short amount of time. It would have helped to narrow the focus. Mercury is established as a little different, driven to be a performer, and possessing a lot of bombastic style. We get quick scenes of him as an airline baggage handler, at home, then as a musician. These quick scenes rob the movie of any kind of tempo. While the music is great, these scenes are too much too fast. There is no character development. We don't know who Mercury is, we know very little of the band. This is a series of vignettes included just to link musical performances.

We don't get character development until well into the movie. It could have used more. If you don't know Queen, you probably won't know the names of the band members aside from Mercury at the end.

The soundtrack is all Queen. It's fun to see them make the songs, how they recorded and derived lyrics. The performance of the songs is easily the best part. The music overshadows the shortcomings. It's the Live Aid concert performance at the end that elevates this movie. This ends with basically a Queen concert, and that's awesome. As a movie this is lacking, but the ending helps you forget that.