I am a huge Queen fan!
I have seen We Will Rock You five times (please don’t judge me!)
I think Freddy Mercury is a creative genius. He wrote Bohemian Rhapsody, Killer Queen, Somebody to Love, Don’t Stop Me Now, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, and We Are the Champions. Imagine how many more hits we’d have today if he were still around?
Here is the problem with seeing a movie based around an artist I admire so much. I don’t know him and yet I feel protective over him and his legacy. I was walking into my screening thinking ‘This had better do the man and the band justice!’
The film tells snippets of the story of Freddie’s life (with the legend being played by Rami Malek). We see him meet Brian May (Gwilym Lee), Roger Taylor (Ben Hardy) and John Deacon (Joseph Mazzello) – who eventually form the band that we all know so well now.
The movie concludes with the iconic Live Aid performance – but not before delving into the ups, downs and general madness that took place around the band.
Malek is phenomenal as Mercury. So much so, I would be surprised if he wasn’t nominated for an Oscar! In fact the whole band were cast perfectly. Not one person feels out of place in this movie… not even Mike Myers! I didn’t even know the comedic actor was in this movie despite seeing the trailer a dozen times. Look carefully… he’s there!
As already mentioned, I was worried this movie wouldn’t do Queen justice. I needn’t have worried. If anything, I now appreciate the band even more and I’ll never watch their Live Aid performance in the same way ever again. I had goosebumps during that entire scene.
Bohemian Rhapsody is a more than satisfying movie, but here’s the problem… I know that in a parallel universe, there’s a more interesting Queen movie out there. Sacha Baron Cohen was once due to play Freddy but his vision of the movie was very different to the studio’s. Sacha wanted to show a’warts ‘n’ all’ view of the legendary singer’s hedonistic lifestyle… going into his wild side. Sure, this movie goes into the drama but I know it was just the tip of the iceberg, with so much more they could’ve included.
There was almost a much worse version of this movie too. Original plans were to have Freddie die half way through the movie and for the second half to be focused around the band continuing to be a success without him. I’m glad this never happened.
What we’re left with is a movie that I think is for the audience rather than the critics. As a critic, we are often over-analysing a movie. After all, it’s our job to let people know what’s good and what’s bad… and this movie is certainly not flawless. However, the audience I saw this with didn’t seem to care and were having a great time! They were laughing, crying and tapping their feet. Those that switch off their brains and just go with it will get much more from the viewing experience.
Rating 3.5/5
Mikey Clarke
Genre: Drama/Biography
Running Time: 2hrs 15mins
Directed By: Bryan Singer
Cast: Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, Joseph Mazzello, Aidan Gillen, Tom Hollander, Allen Leech, Mike Myers, Aaron McCusker & Dermot Murphy.
See Bohemian Rhapsody and much more at Showcase Cinema, Peterborough. Visit www.showcasecinemas.co.uk for the latest up-to-date show times. You can also join the chat on Twitter @showcasecinemas or on Facebook by searching for ‘Showcase Cinemas UK’
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