Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

“Bohemian Rhapsody” stars Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, and Joseph Mazzello.  Released on November 2, 2018, the film depicts the life of Freddie Mercury and the British rock band Queen.

The film is directed by Bryan Singer, who also directed films such as “The Usual Suspects”, “X-Men”, and “Superman Returns”, with Dexter Fletcher completing the film.  Hollywood has delivered several films that allow us to experience the lives and music of some of the most memorable musical groups to date.  Ranging from “Spice World” to “Straight Outta Compton”, these biopics remind us of the accomplishments they achieved to provide us with the classic songs we know and love, whether the films are great or not.  With that in mind, it’s time for us to take a look at the latest music biopic that focuses on the famous rock band Queen.  Queen is known for crafting such big hits like “We Will Rock You”, “We Are the Champions”, and of course, “Bohemian Rhapsody”.  However, the band is also known for its lead singer, Freddie Mercury, and his personal life outside of his singing career.  As a person who only heard a couple of songs from Queen, I was actually interested in seeing how the band came to be, especially in movie form.  So far, the only musical group biopic that impressed me the most was “Straight Outta Compton” in terms of the relevant plot and the music.  Can this film come close to that amount of success and rock its audiences to their cores?

The story features the significant moments of Freddie Mercury (Malek) and his career with Queen as a vocalist, including the band’s formation and his sexuality.  It then leads up to Queen’s Live Aid performance in 1985, which is considered to be one of the best concert performances of all time.  Now I’ve been hearing that the film is getting plenty of flack for its historical inaccuracies, which may or may not suit well for major Queen fans depending on their tolerance, but since I know next to nothing about the history of Queen, I’ll be looking at it as its own film entirely because that’s what I normally do when reviewing biopics.  Let me start off by saying that the story was far from perfect.  It’s not a complete emotion-filled experience that would earn itself any top awards and the plot follows the basic formula that we’ve seen before in other films that deal with musical groups.  However, it offered a lot of moments that were just as thought-provoking and energetic as the band itself.  The film not only provided some well-executed concert sequences and a swell cast, it also bestowed a thoughtful and entertaining story that deals with the importance of friendship and finding one’s self.  The main actors who played the members of Queen did an outstanding job in terms of the performances and the chemistry between them, especially Rami Malek, who successfully manifests Freddie Mercury with flawless results.  It’s like I was looking at the real Freddie Mercury right before my eyes.  I’m also willing to bet that the film should at least get some recognition for the sound mixing.  The sound mixing is one of the main reasons why you should see the film on the big screen with the best sound quality.  It gives off a riveting and satisfying feeling of being in an actual Queen concert, whether it’s your first time or not.  But the true icing on the cake has to be the Live Aid concert sequence at the end of the film.  My God, this has to be one of my favorite film moments of the year because of the sound mixing, the recreation of the concert performance, the direction, and the energetic presence of the cast.  I might want to watch the film again because of that one scene.

Overall, “Bohemian Rhapsody” is no “Straight Outta Compton”, but it offers enough pizazz and heart in its storytelling to make itself a champion of the world.  Despite having a few hit-and-miss moments in its plot, the film is a zestful musical biopic that will delight plenty of Queen fans everywhere.  I got to say, after watching this movie, I might want to listen to more of their songs.  Probably not now, but soon.  If you want to get the full realistic experience of watching the film, make sure you see it on the biggest screen possible with the best sound quality.  You won’t regret it.

B+