Let me say straight off that I was never a fan of Queen or of Freddie Mercury, (too anthemic for my tastes), and I have always thought 'Bohemian Rhapsody' the most overrated song of all time, (though apparently the music press didn't think too highly of it when it came out and it was left to the public to make it a hit), so I approached Bryan Singer's Mercury/Queen biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody" with a certain amount of trepidation. You might say I went to scoff and stayed to cheer.
As biopics go, it's reasonably conventional. We begin with Freddie
about to go on stage at Live Aid then we flash back to the beginnings,
circa 1970. It makes his talent clear from the start and it ticks all
the right boxes as it chronicles Queen's rise and as a dip into the
business known as show-business it's almost perfect. It's at its best
when it dissects the songs, and in particular the title song, to show
their genesis and, speaking as someone who never really liked them in
the first place, all of this came as something of a revelation. I am now
hearing Queen's songs in an entirely new light.
Of course,
Mercury is the central figure throughout and is virtually never off the
screen. At first Rami Malek looks strangely bizarre, more like a young
Mick Jagger, and those extra teeth don't help but as the film progresses
he grows into the part. His foibles are basically overlooked while his
minder and his manager become the villains of the piece. Freddie is
positively Christ-like when set beside Allen Leech's Paul Prenter.
Leech, best known from "Downton Abbey", is superb here, a truly hissable
villain if ever there was one while other members of the band are
convincingly played by Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy and Joseph Mazzello. As the
real love of Freddie's (early) life Lucy Boynton is excellent in an
underwritten role
.
The film ends as it began with Queen's appearance at Live Aid and director Singer gives us the entire set, a rock-and-roll tour-de-force lasting a good twenty minutes or so. When it was over there wasn't a dry eye in the house, (mine included), while the elderly couple beside me stood and lead the cheers.
Of course,
Mercury is the central figure throughout and is virtually never off the
screen. At first Rami Malek looks strangely bizarre, more like a young
Mick Jagger, and those extra teeth don't help but as the film progresses
he grows into the part. His foibles are basically overlooked while his
minder and his manager become the villains of the piece. Freddie is
positively Christ-like when set beside Allen Leech's Paul Prenter.
Leech, best known from "Downton Abbey", is superb here, a truly hissable
villain if ever there was one while other members of the band are
convincingly played by Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy and Joseph Mazzello. As the
real love of Freddie's (early) life Lucy Boynton is excellent in an
underwritten role.
The film ends as it began with Queen's appearance at Live Aid and director Singer gives us the entire set, a rock-and-roll tour-de-force lasting a good twenty minutes or so. When it was over there wasn't a dry eye in the house, (mine included), while the elderly couple beside me stood and lead the cheers.
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