Bohemian Rhapsody review – This won’t rock you

Nostalgia is big money in Hollywood. Live versions of animated classics have made Disney mega bucks, remakes of favourites are the norm and films catering to die-hard music fans are in full bloom.

Bohemian Rhapsody falls somewhere in the middle. It’s a biopic on Queen and its frontman Freddy Mercury, but it also falls into the genre of using nostalgia and music to get audiences through a sometimes mediocre film.

In 2018, it should have rather explored Mercury’s sexuality and why he hid it for so long; how the band functioned during its party days and, above all, focused on the surviving members, who are still touring, with Adam Lambert as Mercury.

Rami Malek as rock icon Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody. Picture: Twentieth Century Fox

It never feels like it truly takes you behind the curtains or shows how Queen remains one of the most revered groups of all time.

There are even many historical discrepancies about the band and Mercury. That’s great for fast-paced storytelling, not so much for die-hard fans.

On the positive side, it does a brilliant job of recreating exceptional live performances, and that’s largely thanks to Rami Malek’s uncanny impersonation of Mercury.

It certainly does a good job of mixing the soundtrack with drama and the highs and lows of the group.

Lucy Boynton and Rami Malek in Bohemian Rhapsody. Picture: Alex Bailey

But the problem is that Mercury is at the centre of it all, so the band and even the music are sometimes overshadowed by Malek’s version of the flamboyant rocker.  It’s a killer Queen and that’s not a good thing.

Go and watch it if you feel like listening to new versions of Queen classics – but this is just a recreation, which makes you question its artistic merit.

Info

Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Cast: Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton and Gwilym Lee.
Director: Bryan Singer.
Classification: 13 DLS.

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