A chronicle of the years leading up to Queen’s legendary appearance at the Live Aid (1985) concert.
The story of Freddie Mercury isn’t one I’m familiar with but the legacy of Queen, the band, supersedes Freddie’s story. We all recognize the ubiquity of Queen songs. Out of the fifteen studio albums more than twenty songs are easily recognized throughout the common usage in films, TV, and video games. I mean, what person in the world doesn’t know the stomp-stomp-clap of “We Will Rock You?” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” tells the story of the band Queen, sure, but really entirely told through the lens of Freddie Mercury for better or worse.
The beginning and ending of this movie provide clear stakes and dramatic tension. As Rami Malek shines brightly in Mercury’s role, we witness the tenuous beginning of the infamous band. We’re greeted with a bright-eyed Freddie hopeful to make a name for himself. Flamboyant from the beginning, we see the seeds sown that would create the music we’ve come to know and love. The movie exists somewhere between musical and biopic. Unfortunately, it wears its knowledge, openly winking at the audience every time a half melody is played or a single lyric rings out. Thankfully, the winking ends and the movie delves more into its non-confrontational story.
What seems to be its greatest problem is the lack of growth in our protagonist or the lack of clear obstacles. Sure, there’s plenty of sequences where the band fights and you wonder if this is the breaking point but then they hunker down and write another song. They develop a whole subplot about his relationship to his father that never comes up in the middle of the film, just the beginning, and end. It’s a whole lot of Freddie (and Queen) growing in popularity, even as they push the envelope of what constitutes a rock album (with the titular track Bohemian Rhapsody.) They’re stars before the movie reaches halfway and they may act like stars but the only true conflict comes from Freddy. So much so that the last act feels unearned and the conflict resolution feels completely shoehorned in. Freddie finds peace, reunites the band for one last show, earns his dad’s approval, and finds a partner to be comfortable with. Very very little of it feels earned.
Malek delivers beautifully on a performance and shines so bright as the lead character adding flourish to every gesture and movement. His hefty jaw sits at the forefront of many key moments and Malek never skips a beat. In fact, he shines so much that his bandmates fall completely by the wayside. I must’ve misunderstood the strict biopic nature of this film. The remaining bandmates retain almost zero backstory, developing on their own in the wings. One minute they’re ladies men but twenty minutes later they have wives. I felt disappointed to see Mercury outshines all his bandmates significantly. The movie takes pains to show each member of the band wrote songs and they all contributed one way or another, but Freddie says it best when he says “you’re all nothing without me, and I’m nothing without you.” As if his singular addition merits their combined input.
Even though the center of the film feels like running on a treadmill, we’re still greeted with fabulous sequences of Queen being rockstars. Whether it’s a montage of their American performances, unique cuts surrounding their music videos, or floating quotes raging against their wondrous music, they are masterfully edited. Too often it plays like a long music video than anything else. Plenty of clever shots and unique period piece set design help to really establish a mood. I didn’t want to be the guy who doesn’t like this movie but the middle piece really dragged me down. That is, until the very end.
The end of this movie puts on such a spectacular show it almost completely validates the time spent getting there. I’m not ruining anything by giving away the last twenty minutes of the movie is a full-on Queen rock concert, shot to demonstrate both grandiosity and musical prowess. If you’ve ever wanted to hype up your friends on a certain band by showing them a video this would be the video to show them. This movie’s flashy cinematography and editing pay off in those last twenty minutes. In the end, while I was disappointed by the lack of dramatic conflict, I was reminded just how powerful Queen truly is. Their music tapped into a primal source of energy that previously felt untapped and gave voice to the voiceless. As far as art goes, Queen proved to be masters of it, and they earned the right to be Rock Stars. If anything, this movie reminded me of the true genius of Queen and the quiet suffering of Freddie Mercury.
Available on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray™ and DVD February 12th
