Bohemian Rhapsody - Film Review

‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is directed by Bryan Singer and stars Rami Malek as Queens lead singer Freddie Mercury, and is about the years leading up to the legendary Live Aid Concert in 1985. Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury is brilliant. He encapsulates Mercury wonderfully as an eccentric, troubled, flamboyant musician. The other band members were excellent, in particular Gwilym Lee as Brian May who’s uncanny resemblance and authentic performance made the group dynamic great. The music is all of course incredible, if you love Queen, which everyone does. Character conversations and confrontations were very well handled, especially including Mercury and Mary Austin, played by Lucy Boynton, were the highlights. The Live Aid performance at the end of the film was extremely exhilarating and energetic. It leaves a great impression on the audience when you exit the theatre. The majority of the film is joyous, but the emotional beats do hit a home run, for the most part. These emotional beats are centred mostly around his struggle with his sexuality, and his realisation with AIDS. While this was a touching thread, it could have been explored more deeply. It’s understandable that the focus is the band, though it would have been nice to see more of his struggle, and his key character beats that was the most interesting part of the film. The directing is fairly pedestrian and uninspired. It works, but a bigger influence would have been beneficial. Also, the start is rather rushed, in terms of how Freddie joins the band and their extremely sudden stardom. It’s difficult to fault the film for that, as it is a true story, but it’s rushed beginning was clear. The relationship between Mercury and Jim Beach (Tom Hollander) would have been nice if it was explored in greater detail, as it was a key part of Mercury’s life and felt fairly rushed. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is an extremely exhilarating and fun film, that explores Mercury’s life relatively well, and the bands stardom substantially, which is interesting enough. Although the directing is slightly slack, and occasionally rushed in areas, it’s fun, it’s loud, it’s funny, and the music will exhilarate you and won’t leave your head for days on end. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ - 77%