Movie Quibbles: Bohemian Rhapsody

Why not, “I’m In Love With My Car?”

I saw Bohemian Rhapsody at the beginning of the month but haven’t been able to put down how I felt about it because I wasn’t sure. I love Queen and enjoyed the movie so what’s the problem?

I still don’t know if I figured it out.

But, spoilers? By this point, I’m sure everyone knows most of Queen’s history. I’m not going into specific points in the movie, but events will be brought up.

Just Smile

Farrokh Bulsara aka Freddie Mercury worked at Heathrow Airport during the day and went to concerts at night, following the band Smile, before becoming a performer himself. On the same night, he met Mary Austin, who would become one of the most important people in his life, and the band’s lead singer quit. Brian May and Roger Taylor were left without what to do next when Freddie showed off his vocal skills and without even seeing the progression, he’s performing with the band during the next gig along with bassist John Deacon.

Variety

The rest of the movie follows Queen’s rise, fights, and creative endeavors, as well as Freddie’s personal life, ending with their performance at Live Aid.

Fortune Favors the Bold

Some of my favorite parts were the band, whether writing songs together, performing, or joking around. I got the feeling that even when they fought they made up easy. I was also excited to learn one of my favorite songs “Another One Bites the Dust” was written by John, which for some reason, I never knew. I give him all the credit for me doing well in sports growing up, as it was the song I had to listen to before every game. It’s those little details that made up the movie.

Gfycat

One of those little details is Mike Myers playing a music producer who doesn’t like “Bohemian Rhapsody”…a joke I don’t think many in my audience got.

Giphy

For those wondering, the movie does dive into Freddie’s sexuality, a lot actually. From the first time he thinks about being with another man to when he found out he had AIDs. It didn’t take over the movie but still played a big role because it’s important, which some movies don’t do enough of.

Another big role is Mary Austin, who was always in Freddie’s life even after he came out and their engagement ended. I cannot fathom the issue people have with her being in the movie, seeing as she was one of the most trusting and loyal people in his life, and he loved her.

Quibbles

Being a movie, events/people are bound to be different, but there were some significant changes that some may not know until doing research afterward. This can be when Freddie announced his AIDs to his bandmates or how he met them. I get that, being a biopic, things change so the story stays interesting, but you have to question if certain conversations went down the way the movie depicted.

Overall

The songs are a big part of the movie and in the end, you get a twenty-minute Live Aid performance. I can’t complain about any of the performances, by the actors or the concerts, everyone did a great job especially when it came to mimicking the members and the way they move/hold their instruments.

If you can get past the changes that were made to give the movie more drama then it’s a fun watch. Like I said, watching Freddie get closer with his bandmates was my favorite part but did get hard when he started distancing himself and hanging around the wrong people.

The 405

In the end, I can see most fans enjoying the movie even with the nitpicks here and there. Like a lot of people I grew up listening to Queen and am happy to see their story on the big screen, especially as someone who wasn’t alive to see them before Freddie died.