Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

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1. 

   kylescudder

   Seriously? Zero character development. Zero emotional weight. Did Brian May actually endorse that this is how a band works or songs are written? Corny, lazy, and filled with every cliched biopic trope. Felt more like a VH-1 movie with slicker production. Did any viewers actually learn anything new about Queen? Blows my mind this film has positive reviews, let alone is considered by The Academy one of the best films of the year. If you like the performance at the end, just watch the actual Live Aid or Live in Montreal performances. 5 years 8 months ago
2. 

   Duke of Omnium

   One of the more clichéed biopics you'll see. Freddie Mercury just *is*, with no real development except a realization that he might be bisexual sometime around the midpoint. Music historians and true Queen devotees will probably hate it, but casual fans will find a lot to like. Casting is pretty good, and Rami Malek probably deserved his Oscar just for dealing with the tooth prostheses. 5 years 7 months ago
3. 

   Siskoid

   I'll endorse what my neighbor Marty said about Bohemian Rhapsody - slather Queen music all over something, and it's going to be enjoyable no matter what (also looking at you, Highlander!). Like most biopics, it is a thing of parts. Historically relevant moments strung together to form some kind of movie-acceptable narrative. Some you like, some you don't care for, and only the very best bring out a cohesive central theme that makes it, for lack of a better term, literary. There are hints of it here, but they are self-defeating. Mainly, part of the film is about creating one's own identity vs. "passing off", as Freddie rejects his heritage and struggles to pass as white and straight. Is he wrong to do so? Because that's not the film's only concern, it's hard to say, especially given how time is collapsed, ignoring true events to better package the band's story as a movie. Is the legend over history approach part of the overall theme, then? While not very surprising on a plot level as a result, there's still a lot of entertaining razzmatazz on show, with lots of fun visual transitions (the film looks generally gorgeous), plenty of humor to balance the drama, and of course, that music. It's kind of ballsy to reproduce a large chunk of Queen's Live Aid set (I checked, they got the number of Pepsi glasses right), though again, it's a great scene regardless of what comes before and after, taken on its own. And the same is true of the Wayne's World bit with Mike Meyers. Is this a shocking, gritty tell-all? No. Is it a glossy set of tracks filled with energy, comedy and tragedy like one of their albums? Well... yeah! 5 years 10 months ago

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