Cast
Rami Malek - Freddie Mercury (****)
Lucy Boynton - Mary Austin (*****)
Joseph Mazzello - John Deacon (*****)
Mike Myers - Ray Foster (*****)
Ben Hardy - Roger Taylor (**)
Aidan Gillan - John Reid (***)
Gwilym Lee - Brian May (***)
Overall Rating: 7/10
Overall this film is excellent and very well done. The casting is spot on, the story is emotional and moving and they've covered most of what they needed to. The films biggest failing however is that some of the chronology of events is a little off and for a band full of perfectionists who were involved in production I found this a little off putting. Maybe my expectations were too high and I should've expected the screen writers and producers to change things around and compress events to help the flow of the story but as someone who knows everything about the band this frustrated me. It may be better to think of this film about the story of the bands Live Aid performance, and how they got there, as that works better as a story but as a re-telling of the band's history some details were missed. I guess in the vain of making a film, something had to miss out. If you were expecting a story about the end days of Mercury, that is never going to happen, there are plenty of books I can point you toward if that is your thing. Be that as it may, as a story about Live Aid and Mercury's out of control lifestyle the film is still very entertaining and emotional and I look forward to hearing your own experience of this film after you've seen it.
The film starts with Brian May and Roger Taylor in their pre-Queen band, Smile. This is a very good place to start. They had been doing the rounds as a 3 piece with a singer/bass player called Tim Staffell. He co-write a song which Queen used on their first album, Doing All Right which is featured in the film. The royalties Tim receives for this have bailed him out of a few financial holes. He announces he is leaving to join a band called Humpty Bong who are going places, but clearly never did and then Freddie Bulsara (renamed Mercury) comes along, introduces himself and say's he'd be interested as a replacement singer.
This isn't quite right as there were numerous stories about them all being friends before that point, Freddie already being in some bands of his own, and that Freddie would sometimes heckle the band Smile when in the audience saying he could do a better job as lead singer. Throwing that line in would be funny. Also, Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor ran a clothing store together at Kensington Market to earn some extra cash, which accelerated their friendship. I think some of this was overlooked to make the film a little more cohesive. Mercury's motivation was desiring accomplished musicians with which to work and achieve the music he wanted to make and he saw that in May and Taylor. This is an important aspect of Mercury's vision which the film skips.
The movie jumps ahead and the next scene is Queen playing their 1st Gig presumably at Imperial College with a new bassist and singer being introduced. Again this isn't quite right, they actually went through 5 or 6 bassists before settling on John Deacon so they presumably did this to save on time. Mercury prances around on stage, getting in everyone's way, forgetting the lyrics to Brian's song Keep Yourself Alive. This all happened at various points but they meshed it together as one scene in order to summarise what transpired over several years.
The movie zooms in on Mercury, particularly his relationship with the beautiful Mary Austin and their magical connection, his family, parents, fleeing from Zanzibar and unusual background are all brought up. They experience all the frustrations new bands have, lack of money, exposure but I felt there was a lack of extrapolation of Mercury's keen vision. Right from the start he had an awareness of what he wanted, a keen cross-marketing philosophy whereby Queen would mix pop and hard rock with a full blown stage show in order to hit multiple markets. You have to read that between the lines,
The band soon get the money together to record an album and the next thing we know is they're mixing the Seven Seas of Rye. This is quite an interesting scene, with what they're doing in the studio, bouncing tracks, adding effects to make the song more interesting but the casual fan won't realise this song was actually on their 2nd album, the version which appeared on their first album was a basic instrumental track. Again, jumping ahead in the interests of time.
We jump ahead some more and the band are being introduced to Elton John's manager John Reid. This overlooks the important detail of how he only became so after they had been screwed over by their previous manager who took all their money and left them on the verge of bankruptcy. They wrote a song about him, Death on Two legs. They were sued for defamation. The next thing we know a tour of the US is announced and there are images of them doing all these stadiums, all to the backing track of Fat Bottomed Girls.
So this is mainly where the movie lost me a bit and why it loses points.
In 1974 Queen toured America as support with a band called Mott the Hoople. A band nobody has ever heard of outside on Queendom. Fat Bottomed Girls was written in 1978. So we've either jumped ahead in time, in which case Reid is no longer their manager because they had parted by then, or they wanted to cover what happened in 1974 with a backing track people might know because outside of Killer Queen most casual fans have little clue of their early songs. Their early material is actually really very heavy, a reworking of Led Zeppelin with multilayered harmonies so I'm guessing they didn't want any of those tracks on the soundtrack. Also, in 1974 Brian May got very sick with hepatitis and they had to cancel this tour. What they've done is merged several US tours together without any reference to time to get the point across they toured there exhaustively to build up a following.
Also, throughout this time Queen were hugely popular in Japan before they'd made it anywhere else in the western world and this was largely ignored.
We get to the making of Bohemian Rhapsody which is very funny, and very well done and the inclusion of Kenny Everett in this was very important as he was the DJ who played the record on-air. In particular I enjoyed the by play between Brian and Roger and his song I'm in love with my car, which Brian May always hated. This song was the subject of numerous jokes and there are various scenes with them all picking at each other's lyrics and inclusions they want on the album. The song was called Roger's Car song and this comes up numerous times throughout the film. It is maybe not widely known that I'm in Love with My Car was the B-Side to Bohemian Rhapsody. This meant that Roger Taylor got 50% of the royalties which Brian May always resented as he wrote 50% of the songs on that same album.
Bohemian Rhapsody propels them to success and the movie jumps around some more. The band are off in South America playing to massive football stadiums, which happened in the early 1980s but not 1980 as the film suggests. These tours were important for how the band developed into a stadium rock band which is important knowledge to have when you realise this film is essentially about the band's performance at Live Aid. They developed their craft worldwide, in places that were off the beaten track which is why the modern world seemed so shell shocked and in awe of their performance on the actual day.
The film then attempts to dive into many of the frustrations they had working together, particularly with Mercury's exorbitant life style getting in the way. And so we jump to Brian May becoming band leader one day when Mercury is late after partying too hard and explaining how We Will Rock you is going to work. This happened in 1977, so we've jumped back again and i also feel like important details about recording the stomping in a church were overlooked, this was more about explaining how Queen wanted to write songs the audience could get involved in, a deliberate ploy which was perfect for stadium rock. The film deliberately avoids any mention of time which allows it to get away with this jumping around but keen fans will know.
The frustrations deepen within the band when they start to experiment with disco. This is where John Deacon shines. The quiet bass player who wanted nothing more to do with the band after Mercury died is perfectly portrayed. He has all the best one liners through-out the film, the actor plays his mannerisms perfectly, the hair, the clothes, are spot on, but he had the poppy-íst tastes out of all the band. So he had to convince them to go down the disco track by coming up with the bass line for Another One Bites the Dust. This single was really huge for the band, particularly in America but was also the beginning of the end and the film captures this with in-fighting about the use of synthesizers and drum machines which they have fierce arguments about.
Mercury's life spirals out of control in the 80s as he attempts to fill the void with drugs and alcohol and sex. At this point it is really ex girlfriend Mary Austin who brings out that emotion, loneliness and despair he feels. She always loved him, despite his gayness and she is the one who brings him back. Mercury even proposes to her during the film, I'm unsure if this actually happened. Mercury's lifestyle created a rift between the rest of the band, as he received all the attention and it was felt he could do what he liked, when he liked, including take time out of the band. This wasn't entirely true because the band took regular breaks in the 1st half of the 1980's to recover from long tours and see their families, during which most members worked on solo projects which kick started rumours the band would split. However the film explains the breaks as being enforced by Mercury needing time to work on his very bad solo projects. Those solo projects, did happen, and they were very bad, but the time off was a band decision.
Reuniting the band to perform at Live Aid is very emotional. Mercury has the discussion with the band, that he wants to record music until he f***in well dies which actually happened. It is a poignant moment so much so because you know that's what happened. This makes the end of the film worth the price of admission. Mercury turns from his partying lifestyle when he learns his fate, seeks reconciliation with the band, tears are shed and they make Live Aid come to fruition. The Live Aid performance is something else. It is perfectly reenacted, right down to the clothes they wore, the Pepsi cups on the grand piano, the clothes all the cameramen wore and the act coming off before them. I watched that entire concert, they interspersed actual footage seamlessly. They played a medley of the 3 best songs on the day, Bohemian Rhapsody with the crowd singing along, Radio Ga-Ga with the hand clapping, Freddie's by play with the crowd and Hammer to Fall which features Mercury's infamous dance with the cameraman. Personally I'd include Crazy Little Thing Called love in the set but something had to miss.
You might think the film ends abruptly at this point but the band still cannot face Freddie's death so prefer not to cover those years. Instead we are given some facts about how he died. There is no montage, tributes, news reports, just black and white facts. Exactly what I hoped and expected.
Rami Malek did a stellar job portraying Mercury, his mannerisms and moves were pretty much spot on. In terms of language I'd have like to seen him use the words, "Darlings" and "Dears" more as Mercury's dialogue is littered with such references in various live bootlegs and interviews. Brian May was pretty much spot on, a leader at times, stepping up to the plate but also lanky and shy initially. Roger Taylor was the weakest of the 4, sure his love of cars and women came through but I feel as the closest one to Mercury they could've made more of this. I felt his character lacked the depth it needed. Deacon was superb, totally nailed it, and the rest of the cast no complaints. I didn't even recognise Mike Myers initially he was so good.
I'd have preferred the film follow the exact chronology of events and not jump around and compress events together. We only have 2 hours so maybe my expectations were too high. I am pleased the film was made, it is entertaining and the average person isn't going to know the details of what they compressed and will surely enjoy the ride and journey.
Bottom line is see this film, even if you don't like Queen, you will be educated.
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