The highly anticipated movie “Bohemian Rhapsody” had been in production for around eight years due to the constant changing of cast and directors.
The original director for the movie, Bryan Singer, was fired a few weeks before the end of filming due to repeated absences on set causing a hiatus in movie production. Singer directed other movies such as “X-Men” as well as “Superman Returns,” and is still credited as the director since he directed most of the movie. Dexter Fletcher, who replaced Singer, is given executive producer credits.
Despite these hardships, the movie managed to achieved $50 million in weekend ticket sales following its release and $72.5 million internationally. The members of Queen that are still alive also played a big part in the creative process of the film.
From “We Will Rock You” to “Under Pressure” and “We Are the Champions,” the movie showcases the biggest hits of Queen as well as the iconic success and legendary status that the band still holds today.
The movie centers around the life of the lead singer of Queen, Freddie Mercury, originally named Farrokh Bulsara. The film shows the highlights of Queen’s career as well as the band’s relationship with each other from when they first met to their legendary Live Aid concert in 1985.
Overall the production and cinematography of the movie was beautiful with stunning colors and music that were consistently well done throughout the film.
The movie did a great job in setting and transitioning the emotional tone from sad and melancholy to humorous and light-hearted. A notable example was Roger Taylor, played by Ben Hardy, belting “Galileo” over and over until Mercury was satisfied, which was also featured in the trailer.
Aside from very prominent and distracting fake teeth, the costumes displayed throughout “Bohemian Rhapsody” seemed practically identical to the original ones that Queen wore and showcased in real life.
In addition to the stunning colors and elaborate costumes, the highlight of the movie was its concert and musical scenes filled with elaborate stages and nostalgic Queen songs, which were mostly Freddie Mercury’s actual vocals voice-mixed with actor Rami Malek and a few other singers.
Malek, an Egyptian-American actor who was previously known for playing Elliot Alderson in “Mr. Robot,” was able to showcase Freddie Mercury’s flamboyant stage personality as well as the more private side of the famous singer well throughout the movie.
Regardless, some aspects of the movie were not able to fully live up the status that Queen still holds today.
The plot of the movie was fast paced and felt rushed despite being over two hours, which prevented it from delving into the relationships between Freddie Mercury and the other characters. There were a few scenes where the rest of the band followed along with Mercury’s ideas too easily which made their interactions seem ingenuine.
The plot followed a standard story where the main character originally had nothing, suddenly received fame, got caught up with his fame, lost his friends and eventually gained them back again. Surprisingly, the standard formula did not make the movie boring and was still able to be entertaining.
But when following this formula, inaccuracies concerning Mercury’s sexuality and interactions with the band were made in order to increase and drama and tension of the plot.
Additionally the romantic and friendly relationship between Mary Austin and Mercury was sudden and established by what seemed to be the first 30 minutes of the movie which negatively impacted the credibility of their personal and strong relationship.
The creation process of Queen’s hit songs seemed overly simplistic and the rest of the characters in the film felt two-dimensional and feel as if they were only there as Mercury’s sidekicks.
Despite slightly lacking in accuracy and plot, “Bohemian Rhapsody” is still able to entertain all audiences and showcase Queen’s fame, success and remarkable music.
