When you think of iconic bands, there is a long list that covers a number of different genres. However, when it comes to bands where the singer makes the band and can never be replaced, one that comes to mind for me is Queen. Just about everyone knows at least a few of their songs, and now there is a film telling their story in “X-Men” director Bryan Singer’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”.
Rami Malek (Mr. Robot) plays Freddie Mercury as he meets Bryan Lee (Gwilym Lee, The Tourist) and Roger Taylor (Ben Hardy, X-Men: Apocalypse), adds John Deacon (Joseph Mazzello, Jurassic Park), gets the band discovered by an agent (Aidan Gillen, Game of Thrones), and finds what he thinks is love in Mary Austin (Lucy Boynton, Sing Street). All of this while they cope with a crazy rise to superstardom, world tours, the rock star lifestyle, the ups and downs within and outside of the band, and works up until their famous set at the Live Aid concert.
I really enjoyed the cinematography, which made me feel like I was back in the early 1980s with its very accurate sets and locales. There is some CGI (which was necessary for certain scenes to feel real), but it is done well and done at the right amounts. The film is about two hours and fifteen minutes long, but it did not feel it. If this film the true 100% story of Queen and Freddie Mercury, (which it is probably not or rarely is for films of this type), but it still told a good story which gives a good understanding of what happened both good and bad without becoming tone deaf to Mercury’s lifestyle in particular. The film did get real life and showed the good and bad of the life of a star. The film does go into the relationships Mercury had Austin and his gay sexual exploits and does not go tone deaf at all.
The supporting cast does real well, but plain and simple, I see a nomination if not a win in many different award shows (including the big one) for Malek. He truly had the style, accent, and finesse that most remember about Mercury, and I do not think there could have been anyone playing that role as well. I will definitely recommend this film in any kind of Dolby Screening, as the musical performance scenes would enhance it that much.