Bohemian Rhapsody

This has got to be the most overrated film in recent history. Overrated by the audience. Critics got it right this time, even though they rarely do. Rami Malek offered a great impression of Freddie Mercury. But impression it was. He failed to capture the essence, the exoticness of the real Freddie, and his manliness. Rami's acting made Freddie looked like a generic gay man, which Freddie wasn't. Freddie's might have been a weirdo, but never acted like a sissy. At times, his acting simply looked ugly, such as his exaggerated emphasis on Freddie's incisors. You can easily verify what I am saying by searching for videos of the real Freddie Mercury, and you can see the real Freddie never acted the way as portrayed by Rami. Sacha Baron Cohen, the original actor slated to play Freddie, might have been a better choice. The worst part of the movie was the script. Far too much "creative liberty" was taken to alter historical events. Omitting details for clarity, adding details to fill in the blanks, compressing events to fit his career in a 2-hour movie, that's normal. But Queen never broke up! Freddie making a solo was never a betrayal! What the heck? As if the life of Freddie bloody Mercury wasn't legendary enough, the writers had to throw in fictional events to fill up the runtime. This is disrespectful to Freddie's legacy and his fans, and at the same time misleading to the youth, into thinking he's a self-centered a-hole (well, more of a self-centered a-hole). So much of the movie was revolved around Freddie's relationship with Mary Austin. Then all of a sudden, in one short scene Jim Hutton was introduced (with yet another unnecessary historical inaccuracy). And that was it. When Jim reappeared at the end of the movie, I almost forgot who he was. Jim was supposed to be the other love of Freddie's life, and the screenwriters made them fell in love in one short conversation, never to meet again until the end? Then finally it comes to the music. There are times the editors cram in the songs for the sake of playing Queen's songs, without adding to the narrative of the movie. Heck, they re-enacted 70% of the whole Wembley concert, and yet you can easily find the original performance even on YouTube. If they had to invest that much runtime in one event, they'd better not skim over other important events... oh, wait. For a proper music biographical film, try "Ray" (2004). The movie wasn't bad. Just not worth all the praise it's been getting.

I love this movie! Freddie Mercury is portrayed so excellently by Rami Malek and really drives the story forward, making you feel a part of his life. The pacing is excellent, everything fits into place at the right time. The music, of course, is incredible. The camerawork isn't anything special but any frame of the movie could be used as the background for your phone, it looks great! The story also touches a lot on Freddie's many addictions and problems which brings really strong emotions and makes you feel for all the characters by the end. I may be biased as Queen has been my favourite band for a long time but this movie is excellent in every way, I highly recommend. 9/10

For those of us of a certain age Queen, and especially Freddie, defined us. Sitting through this movie I had goosebumps. The casting just works and watching the actors playing May and Deacon you'd be forgiven in thinking someone had access to a time machine. Even Kenny Everett was instantly recognisable. I left this movie a strange combination of elated and terribly sad. Elated to hear the music, watch the story and yet sad that Freddie was so desperately lonely. Ultimately, I think Freddie would have approved of the whole thing. His genius and flamboyance shone through. Truly brilliant.