I finally had a chance to see Bohemian Rhapsody in theaters and while I enjoyed the movie overall, I had a few challenges with the movie that seems to stand out. Warning spoilers below.
The forming of Queen
Maybe there deleted scenes or some stuff was just left out of the script but there’s the story of how Freddie joined Roger and Brian. It’s comes after a concert when the singer and bass player quit Brian and Roger’s band. Freddie meets them and becomes a part of the band and they mention they need a bass player. Then without any story, here’s John Deacon, he’s in the band now. I get it’s Freddie’s movie and John gets slighted here (and throughout most of the movie).
The Early Struggles of the Band
After Queen records their first album the movie jumps from a Top of the Pops appearance to them in a meeting talking about the next album, A Night at the Opera. There was no show of struggle or even them reacting to become successful there’s no context of what much of the early music was like. I did like the band bickering about a certain Roger Taylor song that because a great joke in a few scenes.
The Timeline is out of order
If you’re a casual Queen fan it won’t be an issue however the movie presents how songs were recorded in the wrong order. It’s not just a year off but forever reason it’s made to seem that a certain Queen classic was recorded much later than when it was. It also had Freddie’s health come into play at a much different time in his life. Yes it’s a movie and it’s telling a story but a lot of changes are done for dramatic effect.
Ignoring Queen’s struggles in the 80’s
I get it, you want everything to be positive but Queen struggles musically after the release of Hot Space the band struggled with success in the states, part of that was done after they decided to not tour the US anymore a couple of years later (which is mentioned in the movies) but the band struggled before that decision. There is a focus on Freddie recording a couple of solo albums but no real mention of how they did other than Freddie hated being surrounded by yes men while making the album.
The Movie Ends at a High Point
While we know the ending in real life the movie doesn’t ignore completely, however it avoids going the tearjerker route and ends at Live Aid. Yes the movie becomes more of celebration than a true bio pic.
Overall it’s a good movie and I do recommend it although I have a few bones to pick about it. The acting is great and the members of Queen are perfectly cast and there’s even an appearance by Mike Myers you may not even catch in the movie. Of course the soundtrack is mainly the hits you know and love. I’ll give it a B.