I am thrilled with “Bohemian Rhapsody,” a film that properly honors my favorite rock band of all time. The film has been criticized for historical inaccuracies and watering down some of the R-rated escapades of the band but everybody needs to cool their jets. It was meant to be a tribute, not an expose, and if it’s good enough for Brian May and Roger Taylor then it’s good enough for me. Remi Malek’s Oscar-worthy performance as Freddie Mercury is stunning. Every movement and line of dialogue carefully considers the way that Freddie would have done it. The place where I’m torn is the singing. The Live Aid concert sequence is epic in proportion and the integration of Queen’s music into every scene makes it a strong contender for the Best Sound Mixing Oscar. There’s just one problem – the voice that we are hearing is a combination of Malek, Mercury, and another singer. I find it disingenuous any time that an actor lip-syncs because there are enough great singers out there that they should have to, but I’m torn in this particular situation. Freddie had such a unique voice that it would have been impossible to find an actor with the correct ethnicity, flamboyancy, and a voice that could even come close to mimicking Freddie. When combined with the fact that Malek would have been lip-syncing to his own voice during these sequences anyways, I would have been more upset if the vocals didn’t sound like Mercury than I am that they incorporated his original vocals into the final product. Even though this film is about the band, it is clearly focused on Freddie as the rest of the band members receive virtually no character development or depth. But these actors deliver where it counts, and that is in the many musical sequences that occur in arena, recording studios, and at home. Gwilym Lee is a literal clone of Brian May as he shreds the famous guitar solos, Ben Hardy has the most depth as drummer Roger Taylor, and Joe Mazzello is mild-manner like the real-life John Deacon on bass. To me, the true standout of the film is Lucy Boynton. She stole the scene every time that she was onscreen and I probably would have given her a spot in this year’s fairly weak Best Supporting Actress category. I'm happy that it received an oscar nomination for Best Film Editing. There are so many musical sequences that they could easily get boring but each one is filmed with its own unique energy that keeps the film moving as we learn the history behind many of Queen's greatest hits. There have been many complaints that the only way to explore Freddie’s exploits is with an R-rating but I greatly appreciated the tastefulness used in telling his story. “Bohemian Rhapsody” takes a few historical liberties with the band’s story but it drives the main point home: Freddie Mercury was a visionary who died too young but made an impact on the musical world that will never be forgotten.
[Pictured: These actors emulate their characters so perfectly that you'll think that you are watching archival footage of the actual band]
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