Director: Bryan Singer
Writer: Anthony McCarten and Peter Morgan
Released: November 2018
Starring: Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, Joe Mazzello, Aidan Gillen, Allen Leech, Tom Hollander and Mike Myers
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Bohemian Rhapsody is a biopic of Freddie Mercury’s life within the iconic band, Queen.
It’s an emotional journey with an epic soundtrack, mirroring the trauma and heartbreak of Mercury’s rise and fall in fame.
Rami Maleck plays the part of Freddie Mercury, and I think he was absolutely the perfect choice.
I didn’t realise until I was doing some research on him just now that I had in fact seen him in movies before: the pharaoh in Night at the Museum, and Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 as an Egyptian vampire.
He’s a remarkable actor.
What I like about this movie is that unlike Elton John’s biopic, Rocketman, Bohemian Rhapsody retains the original Queen soundtrack. So it feels like a more accurate representation of Freddie Mercury and his music.
As I mentioned in my last review, Bohemian Rhapsody is quite dissimilar to Rocketman, in that it isn’t as theatrical or exaggerated. It’s down-to-Earth, which humanises the iconic Freddie Mercury in an almost documentary-style – especially since they recreated the Live Aid concert scene for scene (which I loved!).
I like how Freddie Mercury was represented. Whether it was accurate or not, it was fascinating to ‘get to know’ him in such a flattering light. He seemed kind, generous, and humble with flaws and all, which made it feel all the worse to see him being taken advantage of.
Whereas in Rocketman, Elton John was [perhaps unintentionally] portrayed in quite the opposite manner: as an egotistical, flaunting and intangible character.
I prefer more ‘human’, coming-of-age stories, which is why I think I resonated with Bohemian Rhapsody more.
If you love Queen’s music, and strong, heroic characters who rose to fame from such a familiar and common life, then you’ll love Bohemian Rhapsody.
Despite his incredible talent as a musician, Freddie Mercury was portrayed as someone like you and I. He was fantastically ordinary – and look what he achieved.
Loved it.
I’ve been playing Queen’s music non-stop since, and I’ve been singing the operatic section on the song Bohemian Rhapsody on the way home from work everyday.
Highly recommend!
Jodie’s review: 8/10
NZ Film Freak 