Bohemian Rhapsody review: Freddie Mercury biopic bites the dust

Rami Malek’s impersonation adds a kind of magic to this Queen-produced rock slog with a troubling moralistic subtext

“We don’t follow formulas,” say the members of Queen, circa 1975, but anyone hoping for this Freddie Mercury biopic to take its cue from the rock-operatic masterpiece of the title will be disappointed. Rami Malek’s excellent performance aside, it feels less a pioneering musical odyssey than a really good covers band. Then again, considering the many, well-publicised troubles this movie has been through over the years – Malek stepped in to replace the departed Sacha Baron Cohen, director Dexter Fletcher stepped in to replace the departed Bryan Singer – it is some achievement that it finally got made at all. Maybe the formula was simply “get the damn thing finished”.

There is no lack of material to work with here, given Queen’s stratospheric rise and Mercury’s own tragic fall – he died from Aids-related illness in 1991. Not to mention the on-the-face of it improbability of a straight, white rock band fronted by a flamboyant, Asian gay man. Perhaps as a result of the personnel changes, Bohemian Rhapsody struggles to find a fresh way to tell its story. It begins with Zanzibari immigrant “Farokh Bolsara” forsaking his traditional family and racist 1970s smalltown for the glamour of rock & roll, then skirts dangerously close to Spinal Tap territory, what with microphone-stand malfunctions, absurd studio experimentation and old-school industry execs telling our be-mulleted quartet what to do.

Related: Freddie Mercury biopic trailer: killer Queen or queerwashed cop-out?

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2PRwpHN