“Bohemian Rhapsody” is a recently released drama following one of Britain’s most celebrated musical exports in the world: the band, Queen. Directed by Bryan Singer, the film follows the band’s rise to fame and celebrates the intense influence that they have forever left in the world of Rock and Roll during the 1970-80s.
The film does an accurate job of capturing the charisma and passion of the band as a whole, though some of the facts may be fictional.
The movie stars Rami Malek, who plays Queen’s leading man Freddie Mercury. Malek successfully depicts Freddie in a way that remains true to his confident and electrifying persona that he was so famously known for, with his performance being one of the biggest highlights of the film. Malek also brings out the lead singer’s complicated personality, accurately depicting him and his struggles through the growth of the band.
The movie begins with a brief look at Mercury’s life before the band came together, giving viewers a deeper look into his personal struggles and the darkness he faced throughout his life. It shows the personal demons he experienced as he tries navigating confusing feelings and health issues, including his AIDS diagnosis.
The movie begins with a brief overview of Mercury’s life until it starts focusing on the band and their growth as a group. This is where the film really deepens and is able to give the viewers an incredible experience by showing the thrilling details on how some of the bands songs were created, and how they grew as a group to become one of the biggest Rock and Roll bands of all time.
The movie follows the rise of some of Queen’s most iconic and beloved songs, such as “We Will Rock You”, “Another One Bites the Dust”, and of course “Bohemian Rhapsody”. However, the film as a whole definitely has an underlying darkness due to the heavy content and Mercury’s personal struggles in and out of the band. Yet the joy that Mercury feels as part of Queen always tends to show through whenever the band plays a song and the music blares. The pain he carries with him is virtually erased once they perform one of their songs or when they are in the process of making their music.
As a whole, the performances of the actors in this film are among the biggest highlights, for each one is riveting and really makes the movie. Gwilym Lee was cast to play Brian May, doing a fantastic job accurately depicting the soft-spoken guitarist of the group. Working alongside him actor Ben Hardy was put in the role of Roger Taylor, Queens’ drummer known for his brash and forthright personality. Joe Mazzello was cast as the final member of the band, the bass player John Deacon who they all would have described as the quiet “sensible” one of the four of them. Each of these actors within their separate roles as the individuals of Queen did quite a good job in accurately nailing down each characters personality as they worked alongside Rami Malek as the star of the film. Lucy Boynton was also cast as a supporting actress for her role as Mary Austin, a previous lover and life-long friend of Freddie Mercury.
The film ends with Queen playing their Live Aid performance at Wembley Stadium, and although the movie is full of teasers of them playing their music, prior to this last scene, viewers are never actually able to get the full experience of the band. But this performance—which has already gone down in history—is re-created to stun, and does just that. The madness and energy of the band overall that shows itself off and on through the movie really explodes during the Live Aid performance, giving an electrifying experience that makes you as the viewer feel as if you are one in the crowd, gazing up at Freddie Mercury owning the stage with his powerful performance skills and riveting vocals. Even with some of the darker realities and struggles that the movie depicts within Freddie Mercury’s life, the film is sure to please any lover of Queen and leave them dying for more.