Even if you are not a big fan of music it would be strange if you had not heard of Queen.
Their music remains some of the greatest of all time and their lead singer, Freddie Mercury, is one of the best showmen of all time.
As a result, it was only a matter of time before a biopic was made about their rise to stardom and Bohemian Rhapsody is that movie.
Named after one of their most famous songs, the film went through a rough production with Bryan Singer being fired as the director, although remaining credited.
Many critics have disliked how Bohemian Rhapsody seems to play it safe when telling the story of Queen rather than dealing with the darker and more controversial aspects of Freddie and the band.
However, while this is certainly true, with Bohemian Rhapsody telling the typical biopic story we have seen before, the film still manages to be very entertaining due to the enjoyable music sequences and an Oscar worthy performance by Rami Malek .
Malek’s performance as Freddie Mercury is so good that you could be forgiven for thinking that it was Freddie himself on stage.
And, even though the film does play it safe in some areas, various aspects of Mercury’s life are shown in detail like him coming to grips with his sexuality and even hinting at a cocaine addiction.
This combined with Malek’s incredible performance makes him come across as very human and not just as the persona he presented on stage.
The music sequences are also entertaining with it being difficult not to sing along in theaters.
However, while this does make the film an entertaining watch, it is still not without its faults.
As I said, the film is a standard biopic that we have all seen before and puts the creation of songs over the band members’ struggles.
Along with this, the film is full of various inaccuracies.
I believe when creating a film based off a true story it needs to be mostly truthful so it is respectful towards actual events, although some creative liberties may be necessary.
Bohemian Rhapsody, however, has so many inaccuracies and, combing this with the prioritization of music over character development, this makes it feel like the film is trying to be about Queen’s music rather than the band as people.
Still, there are many moments of humanity in the film for Freddie that come from Malek’s performance, which stops this feeling from spilling all over the film.
And, even though the film does priorities the music over the actual story, it does not change the fact that Bohemian Rhapsody is still entertaining.
Check it Malik’s excellent performance and the musical sections because those will certainly “rock you.”
THE REVIEW MONSTER 