1"How many times do we need to teach you this lesson, old man?" Abominable. Chickenshit exploitation of queerness and public persona, in addition to being formally inept. Every single element of this movie is subpar, lacking in nuance and a solid foundation of existence. All of the reaction shots are gold - everyone is lost: in geography, character motivation, respect of authenticity or even some semblance of cinematic coherence. Nothing is even remotely aware of its functionality. The film is honestly surreal in its dumpster fire hubris. Rami Malek's prosthetic teeth have an agenda of their own, I swear. I would say this is like a modern SNL sketch, but at least they're trying. The fake wigs and cheap costumes are close to a revolting state. Everyone is one take away from either a cigarette break, a tired walk back to their trailer, or off to the local bar. Mike Myers somehow felt compelled to rise from the Hollywood grave for this and not another Shrek installment and it shows. This whole entire circus is hideous, in front and behind the camera. Its editing barely accounts for basic coverage, rhythm, or a sense of continuity. The entire production is falling at the fringes, pleading and begging for the viewer to provide any and all emotional capital, yearning to be genuinely liked and loved in the way Freddie and Queen once were. Can you smell the idiocracy? And once more, the appalling ego in its molded, curdling cry for relevance? Never have I seen such filth laid bare, pre-packaged, sold to the trade papers as a miracle movie even as it offered contractual monetary gain for its weakling pedophillic excuse of a director, and promptly nominated by The Academy, an organization with a stated goal of "advancing the arts and sciences of motion pictures." while "recognizing and upholding excellence." A sickening little bow tied to a corporate love affair. But hey, that Queen band was pretty great, right?
Maybe movies were a mistake. One of the most astonishing, eccentric performers of all time and this is the insipid, formulaic garbage you give him? Any interest in the nuances and artistry of Queen takes a backseat to making their lives and works fit into a Greatest Hits rise and fall biopic; watch as a painfully self-conscious performance stumbles through a barely dramatized Wikipedia overview in between montages of songs you like being simplified into little digestible, lowest-common-denominator origin stories everyone can pat themselves on the back for knowing. Are we so far removed from Walk Hard that people once again buy these clichés that were tired even before the mid-2000s? We're talking about a movie that opens on the "cough = terminally ill" bit in the first 10 seconds of its runtime, and what follows is the kind of smarmy, winking writing that results in the horrifying decision to orchestrate a melodramatic push-in on Mike Myers' studio exec just as he says "Queen will never be played on the radio!!" and, even worse, to cynically telegraph Freddie's AIDS [insert spooky, disembodied "~contracting something~" here] years before he even knew just in case you forgot where this was headed. I'm sure its placement directly after a montage of him writing/performing Another One Bits the Dust while strolling through a sea of leather daddies has zero implications too. Also, I'm sorry but that Live Aid concert recreation that people wouldn't shut up about looks ghastly and Malek's dubbing in it is completely unconvincing. Also also to just cut from Live Aid to "and then he died" (like some real "note: poochie died on the way back to his home planet" shit) ignoring the fact that he made four more fucking albums and even shot a music video just months before his death is so disrespectful to him as an artist and a person. Especially if you're going to include the line "I'm not going to be their AIDS poster child", like come the fuck on. Just absolute garbage through and through, everyone involved should be ashamed.
"I don't have time to be their cautionary tale."Freddie says this to his bandmates when he reveals his diagnosis with HIV. It’s an ironic scene, really, given it takes place entirely because this film turned him into one.Freddie’s contraction of HIV and eventual death are framed within the film as a tragic inevitability, of which he and his manipulator are to blame. It's his punishment; for his ego, for pushing his band members away. Pushing them away, that is, by embracing his sexuality.This sexuality is "awakened" within the narrative by Paul Prenter, Freddie's personal manager. The film turns him into a one-note villain, there only to take advantage of Freddie. It is through Paul that he's introduced to the gay community, which is only ever depicted as a pack of hedonists, interested only in Freddie's fame and body.His true family, per the film, are his heterosexual bandmates and Mary Austin, who is reduced to Freddie's savior from gayness. Freddie loving men openly is what brings out the worst in him, and only when he rejects men and the community is he redeemed. But not before he is punished. To craft this narrative, they had move his diagnosis up by several years. Their intention is clear in this inaccuracy.The film tries to rectify this by throwing in Jim Hutton towards the end, but it reduces him and Freddie's life together to nothing but a footnote. Hutton does not matter in this film, never mind the fact that he cared for Freddie in his final days, that they shared their life together for years, that Freddie died wearing a wedding band Hutton gave him. None of that matters in this narrative.The film has no interest in interrogating who Freddie was as a person. Instead, we get shots of adoring heterosexual crowds, cheering his name, readily devouring him. The same kind of people who, in their personal lives, would spit at men like Freddie. There is no acknowledgement that what people worshiped, his artistry and his attitude, his sense of style; all that was and remains tied to his sexuality. Freddie Mercury would not have been Freddie Mercury if he didn't love men.Never is loving men portrayed anything but a character quirk, a little deviancy that should be ignored, and that tragically brought his downfall. But Freddie Mercury's death was not inevitable. He died entirely because of homophobia. Every single person who died of AIDS and HIV died because it was convenient for the systems in place to ignore them. Until this is understood, and reckoned with, Freddie's story will never be rightfully told.Instead, we got this. A film that loves Freddie, but only the parts of him that are presentable. If I wanted that condescension, I'd have had dinner with my grandparents.
