I may be biased because I am a HUGE Queen fanatic but if there is any movie you should see this year, it is Bohemian Rhapsody. The movie managed to cover the full story of how Freddie Mercury became the legend we all know and love, showing both happy and dark sides of his life. This includes his issues with family, starting Queen and turning it into what it is today, struggling with addiction and rumors regarding his sexuality.
Rami Malek did an outstanding performance of his portrayal of Mercury. Malek was dramatic, funny, outgoing and overall entertaining to watch as he captured the true essence that was Mercury. The other members of the band, Brian May (Gwilym Lee), Roger Taylor (Ben Hardy), and John Deacon (Joseph Mazzello), also had remarkable performances and were wonderful supporting actors to Mercury’s storyline in the movie. The members of the band provided a light-hearted and comedic tone to the movie in contrast with the drama that went into Mercury’s life.
The one thing about this movie that moved me to tears was the music. They go through the timeline of how Queen developed their music and how they had to formulate their music around the demands of their record labels as well as the expectations from the music industry. They even show Queen’s struggle getting their record A Night at the Opera onto the radio (in other words, changing the sound of music leading into the 80s) due to the fact that record producers did not want the sound of rock on the radio to change.
Long story short, if there is any movie you should see before the year is over, it’s Bohemian Rhapsody. It will change the way you see and hear Queen and rock legend Freddie Mercury!