If you want the real detail of the Queen story, this film is not the place to look - seek out the excellent BBC4 documentaries. In spite of its degree of superficiality and glossiness (the middle years and the relative failures get short shrift here), and the difficult production of this long-gestating project, the result is an extremely entertaining and well-made chronological trot through the Greatest Hits catalogue and the key moments of the band's heyday, culminating in a remarkable recreation of the seminal Live Aid performance (in spite of some horribly obvious greenscreening). In some ways it plays like a bigger-budget Channel 5 biopic, but it is carried by the excellent concert/music sequences (very impressive in IMAX) and a very strong cast. Rami Malek's turn as Mercury is revelatory, not only in the music performances but also in the dramatic scenes, and indeed the rest of the band members are also strongly played by Joseph Mazzello (Timmy from Jurassic Park!), Gwilym Lee and Ben Hardy. Lucy Boynton is a stand-out also as Freddie's long-standing companion. Moments of self-deprecating humour work well, and the A.I.D.S. issue is handled with some sensitivity, but there are some problems evident: a couple of mawkishly-written scenes undermine their dramatic sincerity, and there is a real tension between telling The Freddie Mercury Story and The Queen Story, but as the two are so intertwined the shift in focus in the third act is understandable. However, this film is principally about celebrating the music, and in that respect the film is a triumph.
Friday, 26 October 2018
FILM: Bohemian Rhapsody IMAX (dir: Bryan Singer, 2018)
"I think it has potential."
If you want the real detail of the Queen story, this film is not the place to look - seek out the excellent BBC4 documentaries. In spite of its degree of superficiality and glossiness (the middle years and the relative failures get short shrift here), and the difficult production of this long-gestating project, the result is an extremely entertaining and well-made chronological trot through the Greatest Hits catalogue and the key moments of the band's heyday, culminating in a remarkable recreation of the seminal Live Aid performance (in spite of some horribly obvious greenscreening). In some ways it plays like a bigger-budget Channel 5 biopic, but it is carried by the excellent concert/music sequences (very impressive in IMAX) and a very strong cast. Rami Malek's turn as Mercury is revelatory, not only in the music performances but also in the dramatic scenes, and indeed the rest of the band members are also strongly played by Joseph Mazzello (Timmy from Jurassic Park!), Gwilym Lee and Ben Hardy. Lucy Boynton is a stand-out also as Freddie's long-standing companion. Moments of self-deprecating humour work well, and the A.I.D.S. issue is handled with some sensitivity, but there are some problems evident: a couple of mawkishly-written scenes undermine their dramatic sincerity, and there is a real tension between telling The Freddie Mercury Story and The Queen Story, but as the two are so intertwined the shift in focus in the third act is understandable. However, this film is principally about celebrating the music, and in that respect the film is a triumph.
If you want the real detail of the Queen story, this film is not the place to look - seek out the excellent BBC4 documentaries. In spite of its degree of superficiality and glossiness (the middle years and the relative failures get short shrift here), and the difficult production of this long-gestating project, the result is an extremely entertaining and well-made chronological trot through the Greatest Hits catalogue and the key moments of the band's heyday, culminating in a remarkable recreation of the seminal Live Aid performance (in spite of some horribly obvious greenscreening). In some ways it plays like a bigger-budget Channel 5 biopic, but it is carried by the excellent concert/music sequences (very impressive in IMAX) and a very strong cast. Rami Malek's turn as Mercury is revelatory, not only in the music performances but also in the dramatic scenes, and indeed the rest of the band members are also strongly played by Joseph Mazzello (Timmy from Jurassic Park!), Gwilym Lee and Ben Hardy. Lucy Boynton is a stand-out also as Freddie's long-standing companion. Moments of self-deprecating humour work well, and the A.I.D.S. issue is handled with some sensitivity, but there are some problems evident: a couple of mawkishly-written scenes undermine their dramatic sincerity, and there is a real tension between telling The Freddie Mercury Story and The Queen Story, but as the two are so intertwined the shift in focus in the third act is understandable. However, this film is principally about celebrating the music, and in that respect the film is a triumph.
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