Rami Malek brings the legend Freddie Mercury back to life in “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the film that follows the band Queen through its beginning, prime, and partial fall.
One of the most remarkable aspects of the movie was the acting. Mercury is an eccentric personality to channel, but Malek encapsulated him as best as anyone could. The movement in his performances, while by no means 100-percent accurate, reflected Mercury’s antics.
Malek’s performance can also be commended during heavier scenes. The struggle through an emotionally abusive relationship with Paul Prenter (Allen Leech), as well as with drugs and alcohol, moved certain members of the audience to tears.
Mercury’s personal understanding of his sexuality is also explored in the film. Its depiction was fairly accurate, though not as in-depth as it should have been considering what a large part of his life it was. However, the film did express the loneliness Mercury battled with throughout his life and his struggle with AIDS with an impressive performance from Malek as his mannerisms relfeccted those of Mercury’s.
As to be expected, the soundtrack held many of Queen’s greatest hits including “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and “We Are the Champions.” It was impressive the way the screenwriters incorporated the genius behind the making of such songs and who were the brains behind them.
The performances focused on songs that described Mercury as a performer, such as lyrics from “Who Wants to Live Forever,” tying in with Mercury accepting that his AIDS provides him with limited time to perform on stage.
“Bohemian Rhapsody” does not focus solely on Mercury, however; it also recognizes the success band members Brian May (Gwilym Lee), Roger Taylor (Ben Hardy), and John Deacon (Joseph Mazzello) contributed. Each of them is featured with a creative and talented idea, constantly supporting each other – even if they may fight occasionally, as friends often do. They are accurately portrayed as being like family to Mercury, along with Lucy Boynton playing the role of Mary Austin, his life-long friend.
Despite all the hard-hitting aspects of Mercury’s life, the band provides well-needed comic relief and a better look at the dynamic between them. It is the little moments, such as joking around about hitting the high notes in “Bohemian Rhapsody” or when Jim Beach (Tom Hollander), the band’s lawyer, is renamed Miami Beach, that truly let the audience experience Mercury as an individual.
By including mixes of live and studio performances from Queen, the movie serves as a seamless tribute to Freddie. The acting was phenomenal, the songs chosen intertwined with the plot smoothly and gave the world an in-depth look at who this performer and band truly were. While adding of a few more classic Queen songs would have been nice, overall it deserves four and a half out of five stars.