Bohemian Rhapsody - Biopic about Queen

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I watched this last night with low expectations as I've mentioned before. I wasn't disappointed. The movie is really good. Underrated actually.

Rami Malek was incredible. He nailed Freddy's persona and mannerisms to the tee. The movie wasn't cheesy or corny as some critics had said. It kept it straightforward going through the rise of Queen, the recording of the title song, the troubles within the band, Freddy's troubled personal, sexual life and the subsequent health problem, the resurgence of the band and the cementing of both Queen and Freddy as two of the most iconic rock performers in the history of music with their Live Aid performance, featured in full at the end of the movie. Of course, there's also the music and the famous hit songs (Killer Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody, Another One Bites the Dust, Fat Bottomed Girls, We Will Rock You, Radio Gaga, We Are The Champions, I Want to Break Free, and others), that had me rocking out, singing along and stomping my feet during the film.

The fun surprise in the movie is Mike Myers (who is credited for introducing Bohemian Rhapsody to a whole new generation in the early 90's by featuring the song in that now iconic headbanging scene in Wayne's World). Myers, unrecognizable in heavy prosthetics and make up, plays an EMI executive who rejects the song from being the first single off A Night at the Opera, complaining about it being nonsensical and too long for radio.
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“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!” ~ Rocky Balboa



Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
I just saw it. I found it be overall disapointing and I just couldn't get involved, at least not on a first viewing. It just seemed more about the music than about the characters, and I found the ending to be very predictable, and there were no surprises. I actually didn't know much about Queen so I was going in not knowing what was going to happen, but still was able to predict it. Unless that is not fair of me and not every movie needs to have surprises and have unexpected things happen?

I also kept reading about how the movie was considered homophobic when it came out, but I didn't really see that, or at least I didn't think so.



The most disappointing thing was learning how un-factual the movie was.

I didn't know much about the band's history either, so I was taking the movie as gospel, but then came to learn that so many details were changed in an attempt to heighten the drama (things like Freddie "breaking up the band, then reconciling & bringing them back together years later right before the big concert" when some of the members had started solo careers before that and they were practicing together right up until only a couple weeks before the concert).
The film changed everything from the chronology of events to the origins of Freddie's relationships.



The most disappointing thing was learning how un-factual the movie was.

I didn't know much about the band's history either, so I was taking the movie as gospel, but then came to learn that so many details were changed in an attempt to heighten the drama (things like Freddie "breaking up the band, then reconciling & bringing them back together years later right before the big concert" when some of the members had started solo careers before that and they were practicing together right up until only a couple weeks before the concert).
The film changed everything from the chronology of events to the origins of Freddie's relationships.
Yeah, it was a weak film. Certainly "Queen" lovers enjoyed the music parts.

Rami Malek did as good a job as he could, but it wasn't good casting. Mercury was actually a pretty big guy, and I doubt that he was particularly swishy.

I'm not a Sacha Baron Cohen fan, but he would have been perfect for the part of Mercury. It's too bad he left the production.

I've noticed that since he got to be a big name, Malek has been cast in other roles that may not have suited him. IMO due to his looks and those creepy eyes, he's actually quite limited in the roles he can bring off believably.



Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
The most disappointing thing was learning how un-factual the movie was.

I didn't know much about the band's history either, so I was taking the movie as gospel, but then came to learn that so many details were changed in an attempt to heighten the drama (things like Freddie "breaking up the band, then reconciling & bringing them back together years later right before the big concert" when some of the members had started solo careers before that and they were practicing together right up until only a couple weeks before the concert).
The film changed everything from the chronology of events to the origins of Freddie's relationships.
Well I was reading the true story and it doesn't seem that interesting really, like there is not enough conflict or drama so perhaps they needed to take a lot of liberities to try to make the movie more entertaining than the true story?



I loved the movie, actually.