If you have seen both movies, you might have some questions when reading the title. Star is Born is an evergreen story of a troubled rock star and his muse, how they fall in love, inspire each other, while Bohemian Rhapsody is the grandiose movie about probably the greatest singer of all-time and his band rising to stardom and conquering the world. Are we sure that it is worth comparing these two? Do they have anything in common besides the fact that people sing and play pretty cool songs in both movies? Well, to tell the truth I’m not 100% sure yet either, but this is exactly what I’m going to do, comparing the heck out of these two, simply because it’s fun and because it’s already 2019 and we still don’t know which was the better movie experience last year. (Movie critics apparently know as Bohemian Rhapsody has won the Golden Globe for the best film drama.)
Acting
Let’s put it this way, Rami Malek against the dynamic duo of Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. What is more valuable, a breathtaking individual performance or a collection of great performances? Which is more entertaining, watching someone playing another real person and trying to catch all tiny character details or witnessing an actor filling a made up character with life and turning a script into real emotion? The list of gifted actors portraying legendary musicians in biography movies is impressive: Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles, Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash, Gary Busey as Buddy Holly have been all great in their roles which is quite remarkable given how much pressure they had while making the films. If you want to do it, if you really want to play a rock star on screen, you’d better be really good at it since not only movie critics, but an entire fanbase will be watching all your moves. Rami Malek lived up to the hype and dominated as Freddy Mercury. On the other side, Gaga is surprisingly confident and natural on the screen - even though we know she is not a first-timer in Hollywood and this role is custom-tailored for her - Cooper seems to be enjoying himself in his role (written by himself), but Malek steals the show.
It’s 1-0 for Bohemian Rhapsody.
Characters
In Star is Born we have a handful of fascinating characters. Of course, the main focus is on Jack (Cooper), Ally (Gaga), and Jack’s older brother, Bobby (Sam Elliott), but it’s so fun to watch these three dancing around to reach their own goals while loving each other despite all difficulties. You don’t love romance? Well, just watch the dynamics, the vibes, and all those stolen glances between Ally and Jack which make you forget about everything else for two hours. Throughout the film, they’ve been trying hard, really hard actually, to become better human beings, lovers, and musicians.
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Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper in Star is Born[/caption]
In Bohemian Rhapsody, the characters are maybe too simplified at some point. Freddy is electric, dominating, and often plays drama queen, as he should, but Brian May is always too ‘wise’, band members are just, you know, too passive, and nothing changes really as we’re advancing in the story because everyone's a little bit predictable.
It’s an easy call, 1-1.
Music
I would make a case for Lady Gaga being the most amazing and unique contemporary female singer (maybe Adele can come close) and would pick her over almost literally anyone in one-on-one. Her voice is just on another level. It’s unique in the lows, mesmerizing in the highs, and it’s completely different from what we got used to. Have you heard any Lady Gaga acoustic lately? If you know her only by radio songs and “pop” hits, do yourself a favour and search for some of her own covers on Spotify. Apparently, everyone is talented at everything here as Cooper proves to be a solid singer, especially in more laid back songs where he doesn’t have to go that high and where he can let his country voice dominate, like in the Shallow (Best Original Song Award in Golden Globe).
The only problem is that they face an omnipresent icon of the 20th century and one of the greatest musical groups ever assembled… no doubt, Queen songs and Freddie Mercury kick ass at a historically high level.
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L-R: Gwilym Lee (Brian May), Rami Malek (Freddie Mercury), and Joe Mazzello (John Deacon) star in Twentieth Century Fox’s Bohemian Rhapsody[/caption]
It’s 2-1 for Bohemian Rhapsody, but Gaga would be likely to agree on that one.
Key Themes, Layers
Is it possible, or more importantly, is it morally okay to be proud and jealous of someone we love (Freddy and the band vs Ally and Jack)? What makes your music authentic and do we have the right to call any musical style or genre “superior” to any other (rock vs pop)? What does the dark side of being a rockstar look like in reality (Jack’s alcoholism vs being harrassed by the media)? Both movies deal with these questions, but while Bohemian Rhapsody feels like just touching the surface of these issues between two concert scenes, Star is Born is heavily invested in all of them.
The Queen biopic is not just a concert film. It has made a lot of people happy, even if its plot is chronologically and factually incorrect sometimes. It's 2-2, but these layers and its sensitivity put Star is Born ahead of Bohemian Rhapsody as a drama and a movie experience.
What do you think?
