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What I Thought of Bohemian Rhapsody

I originally didn’t think I was going to review Bohemian Rhapsody but once I saw it I knew I just had to.

What’s Bohemian Rhapsody about:

Bohemian Rhapsody tells of the life of Freddie Mercury, formerly known as Farrokh Bulsara, and the rise of Queen.

Freddie Mercury performing

The film followed a simple straight-forward narrative so Queen fan or not it’s easy to follow, although some hard core fans were not happy with little errors that were made – especially given that Brian May and Roger Taylor were creative consultants for the film. One Youtube comment pointed out minute  errors such as Freddie not taking up smoking as early in the film, and that he donned a mustache much later. Rolling Stone went further by pointing out that Freddie joining the band and meeting Mary wasn’t as simple as the film portrayed, nor did he know he was HIV-positive before Live Aid. Of course, a two-hour Hollywood film can’t show everything and will bend the truth in the name of entertainment. Joan Jett and Cherie Currie were heavily involved in The Runaways movie and acknowledged that some things it showed weren’t true, but weren’t mad about it either. It’s important to remember that unlike Montage of Heck this is a film, not a documentary (I’m probably never gonna watch Soaked in Bleach but that’s a conversation for another time).

Even with the inaccuracies, the music was always bound to be phenomenal. I’ve always believed that no one is every going to match Freddie Mercury for stage presence, charisma, or talent, and still maintain that. When I first watched Adam Lambert step in as front-man I was disappointed, but he’s since grown on me, I even think Bohemian Rhapsody is a song no one should dare touch, but Rami Malek deserves a round of applause for his performance.

I’m also relieved they didn’t try skim over Freddie’s sexuality, or ignore it completely.

Rami Malek performing as Freddie Mercury at Live Aid 1985

What I thought:

Personally, I’m happy they devoted so much time to Live Aid. Malek imitated the performance perfectly, they also could not have cast better people to play the rest of the band. Everyone says that Queen stole the show, and although I have a soft spot for David Bowie’s set, they were incredible. To this day, Live Aid is still possibly the greatest musical event in history, and helped solidify Queen’s place as legends. It was also the perfect note to end the film on.

I did think it would show more of who Freddie was and his personal life, but it’s really just Queen’s story from Freddie’s perspective. I’m sure there’s plenty of biographies out there to really delve into Freddie’s life.

Overall it was a solid movie, don’t go in expecting a history lesson on Queen or to see Freddie’s clone. For a band that took risks, the film didn’t take any but it’s not lacking because of that. I thought it was wonderful, but if you’re a lot more critical than I am, at least you get to listen to good music.

This is easily one of my favourite rock musical movies.

Have you seen Bohemian Rhapsody? What did you think?

bohemian rhapsody movie poster

10 thoughts on “What I Thought of Bohemian Rhapsody

  1. I absolutely adored Bohemian Rhapsody and the critics need to remember this is fundamentally a film about QUEEN, not just Freddie and that it’s supposed to be entertaining. If they’d added every minute thing in then for cinematic purposes, it wouldn’t have worked. I thought it was a stunning film – I wasn’t a massive Queen fan beforehand but I certainly am now. The Live Aid performance was outstanding!

  2. Exactly, there’s so many documentaries and biographies out there for people who want to learn everything they can about Freddie. I’m so jealous of everyone who was actually around to see Live Aid at the time

  3. I haven’t seen this yet, because I’m not a huge fan of Queen (nothing wrong with them, simply not my kind of thing) but your review is so well articulated and was a great read. Thank you for sharing! 🙂

  4. Loved your honest review! My boyfriend has been dying to see this movie since they started promoting it, haha. We still haven’t gone yet but I am sure we will shortly.

  5. I really enjoyed Bohemian Rhapsody. I saw it twice at the cinema with my Limitless membership and couldn’t keep my feet still for all the singing and dancing. I know a lot of people were quibbling the historical accuracy but it’s not a documentary. I found it immensely entertaining and Rami’s performane was out of this world. RIP Freddie x

  6. What a great Movie…
    Great Casting, Great cinematography, and it is no wonder it won do many awards like the oscars, Bafta’s and Golden Globes.
    Wonderful – gives me chills when I watch it.

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