Friday 26 October 2018

Bohemian Rhapsody - The scoop and digest

To say production history rode several turbulent waves is an understatement.

Sacha Baron Cohen quit when he clashed with Queen over how band should be portrayed.

Bryan Singer was fired towards the end of shooting, but under Directors Guild rules, X-Men supremo is still listed as man at the helm.

Dexter Fletcher finished things off and received executive producer credit.

Rami Malek - Freddie Mercury
Lucy Boynton - Mary Austin
Joseph Mazzello - John Deacon
Ben Hardy - Roger Taylor
Gwilym Lee - Brian May
Mike Myers - Ray Foster
Tom Hollander - Jim Beach
Aaron McCusker - Jim Hutton

Summary

In 1970, Freddie Bulsara becomes the lead singer of Smile.

After changing surname to Mercury, Freddie formed Queen, and along with Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon, enjoyed incredible success.

In the run up to Live Aid in 1985, super group experience highs and lows, with front man at the centre of attention.

Karaoke porn

Okay, is Mr. Robot's performance worthy of the hype?

Yes.

Dental prosthetic to recreate overbite initially proves uncomfortable, but flamboyancy really comes into its own with 80s short hair and signature moustache.

Live Aid makes for a rousing finale and exudes magical energy, but wow - CG crowd really sucks.

Relationship with Mary is handled reasonably well and inevitably, Jim Hutton features.

Title suggests meat would focus on how Bo Rhap came to be, but is given about as much screen time as Deacon's riff on Another One Bites the Dust and May's foot stomping for We Will Rock You.

For some reason, running time deems it necessary to show excerpt of music video to I Want to Break Free.

We don't care.

There was more to Queen than Freddie, but clichéd, self-indulgent biopic practically ignores that narrative.

Origins? What made individuals tick?

Unimportant.

(Bares teeth).

Ignoring the obvious connection to Wayne's World, Myers is nothing more than a caricature.

Anthony McCarten's screenplay has band members bicker like silly teenagers and humour spectacularly fails, but May mocking Taylor's I'm in Love with My Car (which famously became the B-side of Bo Rhap), for not been strong enough was kinda fun.

What isn't real life, and just fantasy, is Freddie revealing he had AIDS just days before Live Aid.

Troubled genius wasn't diagnosed until 1987.

Why be so callous?

End titles shows archival footage of rock legend performing Don't Stop Me Now.

What a shame film is nowhere near as extraordinary as the man himself. 

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