A few weeks ago I saw the new Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since.
Before going into the theater I had heard pretty good reviews, and only one person had said they were mad that it wasn’t completely accurate. After seeing it and feeling completely inspired by it, I personally don’t really care that *SPOILER* a lot of this movie was made up. Now, I don’t want to go into detail about how inaccurate it was, but if you’re curious I’d definitely recommend reading IndieWire’s article, Rolling Stone’s article, or if you don’t feel like reading you can watch this YouTube video by Flicks And The City.
What I really want to talk about here is how this movie completely inspired me. The fire that burned inside of me after watching this movie will inspire me to try with all my heart to be unapologetically myself, just like Freddie Mercury was. Now, obviously he was very complex and definitely had struggles finding himself, but the fact that he was able to go on stage – usually wearing some interesting clothing – and put on a show for hundreds of thousands of people is admirable.
I’ve been trying to figure out what specifically about the movie made me so inspired, and it was a hard task to just narrow it down to a few. I think a few different things factored in to my impassioned viewing experience.
The first of these things is the cast. They were simply amazing and the casting of the characters was eerily close to the real-life band members. I’m convinced Rami Malek is actually Freddie Mercury. I honestly was shocked at how not Freddie he is when I watched an interview of him on YouTube, because in the movie he really sold it! He’s an amazing actor (and I am definitely going to see every movie he is ever been in and will be in).
The second thing is the music. This is a given. Queen has so many songs that are perfect bops and having a whole movie soundtrack of them is bound to be good. Being able to hear these songs as well as see “live performances” of them made me feel a lot better about not being alive in the 1970’s.
The last thing is the story telling. Obviously there were many changes and the movie is only the surface of Queen’s story, but honestly, I was enthralled and teared up multiple times. I really think that the filmmakers really chose the perfect moments to re-create and film; even if some were made up, the story was still incredible. I was hooked on the characters and the story just ten minutes in. I would go into more detail, but I don’t want to ruin anything more for anyone who hasn’t seen the movie yet. If you haven’t, but are at least slightly interested, I urge you to do it!
I think this movie is a great piece of entertainment, and it really showcases how dramatically music can connect with people – even generations later! I will 100% watch it again and again and again. Overall, this movie is probably the best one I’ve seen in awhile, and I hope some of you readers feel the same way!