{"id":29410,"date":"2018-11-02T21:03:32","date_gmt":"2018-11-03T01:03:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=29410"},"modified":"2019-06-06T01:25:34","modified_gmt":"2019-06-06T05:25:34","slug":"bohemian-rhapsody-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2018\/11\/02\/bohemian-rhapsody-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The best thing I can say about \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d is that it aims to become a surefire Oscar contender, and the only aspect deserving of an Oscar is Rami Malek (bad fake teeth and wigs be damned). If you have to absolutely see \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d see it for Rami Malek, whose portrayal of Freddie Mercury is heartfelt, sublime, and much too fantastic for a movie that\u2019s pretty much a sanitized version of the story of Queen and Freddie Mercury. When you have a biopic of the group that\u2019s been authorized by the surviving members and is PG-13, there\u2019s only so much flexibility allowed, and Malek thankfully rises to the occasion. And then there\u2019s the rest of the movie.<\/p>\n

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What could have been a very unique, gripping, and complex saga about the beginning of Queen and the rise of Freddie Mercury, \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d plays it safe most of the time. The film sticks true to its PG-13 roots, so there\u2019s only the implication of major drug abuse and alcoholism while a lot of the film divides its entire narrative in to awkward chunks. There\u2019s the beginning of Queen, the creation of their famous Bohemian Rhapsody, and then Freddie Mercury\u2019s personal life. The latter portion is shockingly questionable, as it doesn\u2019t embrace Mercury\u2019s LGBT lifestyle. What may be off putting to many expecting the story of an LGBT icon might find it sad to see that Mercury\u2019s homosexuality is played more as a dysfunction that he embraces, more than anything else. His entire life is pretty much held back by his affection for men, even his musical creations.<\/p>\n

When he\u2019s pictured in his environment indulging in his sexual identity, director Bryan Singer downplays a ton of the exploits almost like Mercury\u2019s homosexuality is a darkness he learned to live with until the very end. The script makes it abundantly clear that he\u2019s bisexual, and pictures his romance with Mary Astin as something that might have led him down a lighter path. He\u2019d still be thriving if he weren\u2019t gay, damn it. Beyond those fairly ugly overtones, \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d is about as by the numbers and monotonous as you can expect from an end of the year musical biopic with Oscar aspirations. The film booms with great music from the band along with a plethora of clich\u00e9 montages that view everything between the music as just things that happened and didn\u2019t warrant exploration.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a ton of focus on Freddy Mercury\u2019s life before Queen, his blasting on to the stage, his rise to fame, his (PG-13) hedonism, the band\u2019s break up, and the triumphant return at Live-Aid. The script almost always keeps everyone just about as squeaky clean as possible, with Queen acting as a tightly knit group infiltrated by outside forces, including Freddie\u2019s conniving gay assistant, and Freddie\u2019s traditional family. It\u2019s a pretty ominous sign when your film promises to be remembered mainly for an eye rolling, bizarre meta-joke involving a walk on by Mike Myers who is obviously cast only for his background with Queen and \u201cWayne\u2019s World.\u201d You can almost hear the producers brainstorming: \u201cLet\u2019s cast Mike Myers as the record executive who hates Bohemian Rhapsody! Remember \u201cWayne\u2019s World\u201d? People still remember \u201cWayne\u2019s World.\u201d It\u2019ll test well with millennials!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d doesn\u2019t offer anything new or gather any interesting insight in to the group, nor will it really grant hardcore fans a new out look on the iconic vocalist. It\u2019s just a pretty dull, music biopic that colors in the lines. Like most biopics, \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d will leave you anxious to re-visit the actual music rather than re-watch a movie that feels like it was written around a wikipedia page.<\/p>\n