“Bohemian Rhapsody” is the newly released film, named after the greatest song of all time (“Stairway to Heaven” has nothing on “Bohemian Rhapsody”) by one of the greatest bands of all time, Queen. If this introduction in my review is the first time you have heard of both the song “Bohemian Rhapsody” and Queen, then I suggest you stop reading this review immediately you uncultured swine! “Bohemian Rhapsody” largely focuses on the journey of Queen’s frontman Freddie Mercury, who is brilliantly portrayed by Rami Malek, as he goes from working at Heathrow Airport, to being a big rockstar, to discovering that he has AIDS.
The greatest strength of “Bohemian Rhapsody” is the acting. Malek steals the show, which is fitting, given that Mercury would often steal the show from the rest of the band during concerts. In this film, Malek becomes Mercury, in both the way he looks and sounds. According to interviews and behind the scenes information, Malek had prosthetic teeth put in and learned to talk while wearing them in order to perfect Mercury’s way of speaking. He perfectly captures both the way Mercury sounded and how he spoke. It is easy to forget that there is an actor playing Mercury and instead think that the biopic is actually a documentary of the legendary man.
Though Malek stole the show, every actor gave a fantastic performance! Gwilym Lee, who portrays astrophysicist and guitarist Brian May, looked uncannily similar to him. Ben Hardy gives an excellent performance as drummer Roger Taylor. In fact, he was almost as interesting of a character as Mercury. Mike Myers gives a pleasantly surprising performance as Ray Foster, an EMI producer who comes into conflict with the band over the length of their song, “Bohemian Rhapsody.” There is not a bad performance throughout this film.
Though “Bohemian Rhapsody” is spectacular, it struggles with its pacing at times. Parts of the film feel rushed and passed over. This was especially true in the beginning of the film. The movie speeds through Mercury’s personal life with his family and how they handle his success.The movie also sped through the early years of the band as they struggled to become successful. The plot jumps from 1970 to 1971 to 1975 as they record the incredible album “A Night at the Opera.” Perhaps it is the Queen aficionado in me that is critical of this element, but I thought that the movie glossed over a good deal of history with the band. However, at 132 minutes long, it is understandable that the director decided to skip past these years. The movie was absolutely successful in gaining my interest, but it would have been fine if the movie had been 30 to 45 minutes longer. Hopefully, an extended edition will be released one day so people can see even more of this marvelous movie.
Along with Queen’s beautiful music, one aspect that the movie especially touched on was Mercury’s sexuality, which it explored respectfully. Knowing that Mercury was a member of the LGBT+ community can allow people to become more accepting of those who are in the community. Mercury’s legacy continued after his death, not only with his music but with his identity as a famous gay man, despite not being totally open about it during his own lifetime.
There is so much more that could be said about this movie, but movie reviews can’t last forever.“Bohemian Rhapsody” is an incredible movie about an incredible band. I absolutely loved this movie and you should make time to see it! Furthermore, this movie made me grateful. Grateful because human civilization has been around for approximately 6000 years, yet I, along with you reading this, have been lucky enough to be alive during the time that the greatest song ever made, “Bohemian Rhapsody,” has been around. 5/5 stars.