Nearly A Bohemian Rhapsody

Having always been a bit of a Queen fan, especially the seventies stuff, I thought I’d better give this ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ film a coat of looking at. So a few nights ago the missus and I went off to the local cinema to watch it. Was I impressed? Well, ‘yes’ and ‘no’. As a film, to the average guy who likes Queen’s music and likes a good story it’s good. However if like me you know the history of the band and the dates involved with releases and some of the other surrounding events then it’s not so good.

To those who haven’t seen it, the film tells Farrokh Bulsara’s story of how he went from being a Heathrow airport baggage handler to become Freddie Mercury. Bohemian Rhapsody opens in 1985 with the band preparing to play Live-Aid. It then back-tracks back to 1970 and how the band formed before working its way through the trials and tribulations of the next 15 years. The film’s finale is then back in 1985 with their legendary Live-Aid performance.

Rapid Paced
The pace of the film at the start is break-neck often leading to information overload for the audience. In around twenty minutes we go from Brian and Roger being in Smile without a singer to a world tour that Queen went on after the massive success of Sheer Heart Attack. It all happens very quickly to a point where you aren't given a moments respite to reflect on what’s actually happening. This for me is where it starts to go wrong. 

Date Errors
Whether they were errors or deliberate to make the film flow there are at least three ‘out-of-sequence’ dating errors.

1. The band are showed playing ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ in America on the above mentioned ‘Sheer Heart Attack’ tour which was in 1975 however the track itself wasn’t written until three years later, appearing on 1978’s ‘Jazz’ album.
2. The famous 1980 party with the dwarfs and the magicians was featured depicting the start of Freddie’s downfall, however the disco track playing in the background was Rick James’ Super Freak, a track that wouldn’t be released for at least another year.
3. Following the 1980 party the band are depicted in the studio coming up with the ‘We Will Rock You’ track. A track that was written and released three years earlier in 1977 and already a live favourite.

There Are Some Good Bits
I did enjoy some scenes I must admit. I particularly liked the sensitive way Freddie’s ultimately doomed relationship with Mary Austin developed. There was also humour in there too, the early scene where Roger comes on to Freddie’s younger sister for example. The scene with Mike Myers in the record company offices over the release of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and the “Not the coffee machine” line was also quite amusing. 

Another aspect that personally pleased me was that Freddie’s vocals were dubbed over Rami Malek's performances. I'm really glad they didn't try to have Malek do a bad impression of an iconic voice.

So In Conclusion
I don’t think ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ knows whether it is a Freddie Mercury biopic or a Queen biopic and I can't really decide which one I would have preferred more. There were some important events that contributed to Queen’s early 80s downturn that weren’t referred to at all such as their concert at Sun City in South Africa at the peak of apartheid which they were severely condemned for worldwide. This would be intrinsic to any Queen biopic but less so a Freddie one.

For me, ultimately it felt like a movie that was actually fighting itself. There again, maybe it’s just me who went in there with too high expectations! I’d probably give it an overall score of 6 out of 10 as it is generally enjoyable. 

Don’t rely on my word though, go see it yourself. Many people I know who have seen it have truly enjoyed it and would give it a ten, so maybe it is just me!