Bohemian Rhapsody tells the story of Queen, from the band's early days to its famous 1985 Live Aid set, with Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury. It reached cinemas in November 2018 after a well-publicised change of director partway through production. Critics were split: nearly all of them loved Malek and the music, but far fewer warmed to the film around him, and it sat at just over 50% on Rotten Tomatoes in its first weeks.
What critics loved
Malek was the headline. Sheri Linden at the Hollywood Reporter praised his work and the recreated Live Aid concert, which she called "pretty darn magnifico". Steve Rose at the Guardian admired what he saw as a real feat of impersonation, and Slant's Richard Scott Larson credited Malek with capturing Mercury's stage presence and charm. Pete Hammond at Deadline tipped him as one of the top contenders for the Best Actor Oscar.
The songs did a lot of the heavy lifting too. USA Today's Brian Truitt called the soundtrack absolutely killer, and Mara Reinstein at Us Weekly enjoyed seeing the music shown off in all its splendour. Jim Vejvoda at IGN found it formulaic but still entertaining, while Dave Calhoun at Time Out described a lively, uncomplicated jukebox movie that may move audiences even if it won't surprise them.
Where critics split
The main complaint was that the film plays it safe. Owen Gleiberman at Variety felt it skims over events rather than digging into them, and Kyle Buchanan of the New York Times likened it to a glorified Wikipedia entry. David Ehrlich at IndieWire was the harshest, calling it too sanitised and comparing it to a network TV version of the story. Several reviewers, including Rose and the New York Post's Johnny Oleksinski, wanted a much deeper look at Mercury's private life and sexuality.
Others pointed to clunky storytelling. Truitt called it a conventional rock film, Reinstein felt some key moments are awkwardly shoe-horned in, and Kimber Myers at the LA Times found it somehow too long while skipping over its most interesting material. Jesse Hassenger at The A.V. Club thought fears it would ignore Mercury's sexuality were mostly unfounded, but still found the relationships handled in a familiar, formulaic way.
The consensus
Critics treated Bohemian Rhapsody as a crowd-pleaser with a standout lead performance stuck inside a by-the-numbers biopic. It lands fairly high on Fun, since even unimpressed reviewers admitted the music and the Live Aid finale are a rush. QC sits much lower because of the thin drama, the sanitised story and storytelling many saw as textbook, with Malek's performance keeping it from dropping further.
Sources
- The Hollywood Reporter: Bohemian Rhapsody review roundup, what critics are saying (The Hollywood Reporter, The Guardian, USA Today, IndieWire, Time Out, The A.V. Club, New York Post, Slant)
- CinemaBlend: Bohemian Rhapsody reviews are in, here's what people are saying (IGN, USA Today, IndieWire, Us Weekly, Variety, Empire, The Hollywood Reporter)
- /Film: Bohemian Rhapsody early buzz (New York Times, LA Times, Fandango, Deadline)