I love Queen.
If you’ve ever watched a sporting event on TV or live, how the fuck could you not at least be familiar with “We Are the Champions,” “We Will Rock You,” “Another Bites the Dust” and “Under Pressure”? “Bohemian Rhapsody” is one of the greatest and most innovative songs in music history, charting first during its inital release as a single in the ‘70s and again in ‘92 after the success of Wayne’s World.
It wasn’t college in the mid 2000s that I become a devotee. When Chicago’s WLUP-FM 97.9 The Loop (RIP) aired the 2-disc live album Queen on Fire: Live at the Bowl, I was enthralled by not just the music, energy and crowd but by the magnetism if lead singer Freddie Mercury. Funny, vulgar and possessing a once-in-a-lifetime voice, Mercury was arguably the greatest frontman ever.
That broadcast was my gateway into Queen. I bought that live album. Wore it out. Bought Queen’s Greatest Hits. Wore it out. Bought Classic Queen. Wore it out. Bought the amazing Live at Wembly Album (recorded during thier final tour). Wore the fuck outta that. I even bought the butchered live DVD of the Freddie Mercury tribute concert, the ‘05 Return of the Champions live album with Paul Rogers (meh) and the shitty Cosmos Rocks studio album (awful) Needless to say, I was hooked.
I was excited when I heard a Freddie Mercury biopic was in the works, especially with Sacha Baron Cohen and other Hollywood heavy hitters involved. Then my excitement turned to worry after learning Baron left the project after butting heads with Queen guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor over the tone and plot of the film. Cohen (and anyone with a brain) wanted a Freddie film that covered his personal life, being gay, dying of AIDS etc. May and Taylor wanted some fucking PG, Disney-fied music video about just the music and how Queen was more than Freddie Mercury. If there’s a band that’s singularly all about the voice, it’s fucking Queen.
So my thoughts on the “first trailer” (fuck, I hate Hollywood) for Bohemian Rhapsody: The Movie are this: Rami Malek looks fantastic as Freddie. Music is great. It also looks like every other biopic about bands from the 70s and 80s. Drugs, flamboyance, parties, excess blah blah blah. Also, the official synopsis makes states it ends at the ‘85 Live Aid performance, makes no mention of Freddie being gay and says he has a “life-threatening illness.” Jesus fucking Christ.
I’m not optimistic about this. It’s either gonna be okay or a piece of shit. What a missed opportunity. With LGBT people gaining more rights and the horrible stigma of AIDS always an issue whether you’re gay or straight, this film could’ve been a fascinating celebration of a music icon life complete with a riveting, tragic death and triumphant celebration of his legacy post-death. Freddie kept his AIDS diagnosis a secret until the end, recording the last Queen album (Innuendo) while literally wasting away on days he could muster the strength. Instead it looks like we’re getting a by-the-numbers, straight-washed, biopic that gives equal time to Freddie’s bandmates that I’m sure will be fun for the whole fucking family! Zzzz.