Bohemian Rhapsody is a biopic focusing on the career and life of Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of Queen. It depicts how he got involved with his bandmates, achieved stardom and eventually succumbed to AIDS.
Freddie is played by Rami Malek and I'm convinced this will go down as one of the most perfect castings in cinema history. Malek very deservedly earned an Academy Award for his role and for a reason. Just watch this film's recreation of the famous Live Aid concert in London back to back with the real thing and you can see how Malek briefly becomes Freddie reborn.
The rest of the band are played by Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy and Joe Mazzello. They give credible performances but this is very much Freddie's film, which is a shame because the rest of Queen are also interesting personalities and have their own fascinating stories. Brian May (Lee), for example, has a doctorate in astrophysics and has an actual asteroid named after him. Barely mentioned in the film.
Still, it can't be denied that Freddie was the brightest star of Queen while he still lived and had the most interesting life story. And the film captures this rather well. Although, it is a bit baffling how inaccurate the film is in regards to actual events. Now... don't get me wrong. I get that this is not a documentary. It doesn't need to be 100 percent historically accurate if that would get in the way of storytelling.
But when you take out already existing drama. Stuff that actually happened and could make for great cinema. When you take stuff like that out and add in your own made up twists. Then I have to question the wisdom of that. I get condescending timelines and combining side characters. But leaving out actual dramatic events and making up your own. That seems a bit weird. And unnecessary.
That being said, it's a great film. The Live Aid concert recreation especially is an electrifying experience and well worth the price of admission by itself. Add in Malek's superb performance and you have an imperfect film with a lot of heart and soul.
Freddie is played by Rami Malek and I'm convinced this will go down as one of the most perfect castings in cinema history. Malek very deservedly earned an Academy Award for his role and for a reason. Just watch this film's recreation of the famous Live Aid concert in London back to back with the real thing and you can see how Malek briefly becomes Freddie reborn.
The rest of the band are played by Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy and Joe Mazzello. They give credible performances but this is very much Freddie's film, which is a shame because the rest of Queen are also interesting personalities and have their own fascinating stories. Brian May (Lee), for example, has a doctorate in astrophysics and has an actual asteroid named after him. Barely mentioned in the film.
Still, it can't be denied that Freddie was the brightest star of Queen while he still lived and had the most interesting life story. And the film captures this rather well. Although, it is a bit baffling how inaccurate the film is in regards to actual events. Now... don't get me wrong. I get that this is not a documentary. It doesn't need to be 100 percent historically accurate if that would get in the way of storytelling.
But when you take out already existing drama. Stuff that actually happened and could make for great cinema. When you take stuff like that out and add in your own made up twists. Then I have to question the wisdom of that. I get condescending timelines and combining side characters. But leaving out actual dramatic events and making up your own. That seems a bit weird. And unnecessary.
That being said, it's a great film. The Live Aid concert recreation especially is an electrifying experience and well worth the price of admission by itself. Add in Malek's superb performance and you have an imperfect film with a lot of heart and soul.