Bohemian Rhapsody Will Rock You

I'm familiar with the name and legacy but know only a few of their songs. Three stand in my memory when I was growing up: the very early days of Radio Disney constantly playing "We Will Rock You/We are the Champions," Britney Murphy's rendition of "Somebody to Love" in Happy Feet and "Under Pressure" played in the trailer of the Nicholas Cage dark comedy Adaptation (There was me thinking "Ice Ice Baby" was an original composition). I knew "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Bohemian Rhapsody" on other radio stations but wouldn't be until years later did I understand the significance of the latter. 

As for the band and its lead singer Freddie Mercury, I knew zilch about them.  The few things I sort of knew about Mercury were his amazing vocal range, flamboyant lifestyle and tragic battle with AIDS. A dozen of YouTube videos later, I was ready for the movie and to my surprise so was my mother. When she found out I was going to watch Bohemian Rhapsody she tagged along without question. Like me, she knew of Queen's songs but not much on the band itself, making this a learning experience for both of us. We arrived at a good hour but the screening was sold out that we had to wait forty minutes until the next showing. Once in our seats, did the the room slowly start to pack that even after the movie began people were still crowding in. Goes to show that Queen's legacy continues to remain strong.

I enjoyed Bohemian Rhapsody, perfectly displaying Queen as a band unlike no other from seeing them write and perform their music and the bond that each of the band members shared. Many hardcore fans will be disappointed as much of the story is heavily condensed and fictionalized in certain areas; I'd be lying of I didn't say that some scenes are rather rushed. But, if there is something that even naysayers admit is that Rami Maleck's performance as Freddie Mercury is purely phenomenal. He doesn't play the part, he embodies it; capturing the portrait of a man trying to find himself, achieving it but falling into that dark and empty abyss of fame and fortune. 

One element I was surprised to discover factual is Mercury's relationship with his then girlfriend Mary Austin (played in the film by Lucy Boynton who starred Sing Street another movie about music). Even after Mercury admitted to going out with men he still cared for her serving as his moral compass during his dark turns. While not shown in the film, Mary was there for Freddie in his final days and after his death he left his estate and much of the music royalties to her and became good friends Mercury's partner Jim Hutton (played by Aaron McCusker).  

Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, and Joseph Mazzello are great as the rest of the Queen members Brian May, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon; Mike Myers has a surprising cameo that's more of an in-joke and Allen Leech is conniving as Paul Prenter, one Mercury's lovers who worked with the band.  

The making of Bohemian Rhapsody was plagued with problems behind-the-scenes from losing its original lead Sacha Baron Cohen over creative differences with the original Queen members and director Bryan Singer's erratic behavior on-set that lead to his termination; his replacement Dexter Fletcher (Eddie the Eagle and the upcoming Elton John biopic Rocketman) finished the last two-weeks of shooting and post-production. (Singer still received solo directing according to the rules of the Director's Guild as much of the film was done, leaving Fletcher an executive producer credit) 

Luckily, the final product doesn't show evidence of such predicament and while it is a Wikipedia-telling of the band, its still worth watching from Maleck's superb performance and the spectacular recreation of the Live Aid concert at the end. As we exited the theater my mom was still in tears, I asked if it was because of Mercury's life or the nostalgia of seeing the Live Aid concert. Both, she said.

Final Verdict: B