First Take: Bohemian Rhapsody- not quite a killer queen, but still damn enjoyable

SYNOPSIS: A chronicle of the years leading up to Queen’s legendary appearance at the 1985 Live Aid concert.

It has taken Brian May and Roger Taylor nearly 8 years to get their band (a little known rock band called Queen, don’t think anybody’s heard of them) and their story to the big screen- and now I’ve seen the film, I can understand why it’s taken them this long to do it, as it deals with some heavy aspects of the infamous Freddie Mercury’s life.

Now, I don’t feel comfortable giving Bryan Singer all the credit for his work on the film, as he was briefly removed from the project after some serious allegations, but with the midas touch of Dexter Fletcher, the film is able to maintain the same tone and pacing throughout, coming in at 2 hours 14 minutes. The script is penned by Anthony McCarten, and it has some comic relief in there for good measure, but is deeply rooted in the facts and realism that drive the story forward, even with elements of Mercury’s private life and subsequent battle with AIDS. It’s shot magnificently by Newton Thomas Sigel, and while there isn’t a conventional score in this one, instead, May and Taylor executive produced a soundtrack full of the band’s greatest hits- 21 of them in fact, including the Live Aid set in full- so this is a film best enjoyed on the biggest sound systems imaginable.

Where the film arguably excels is in Rami Malek’s performance- for the majority of the time, he really is able to become Freddie Mercury through the subtle movements and extravagant nature, and yes, while Marc Martel does provide some tiny vocal adjustments, he absolutely nailed it, alongside Lucy Boynton as life-long friend Mary Austin, and the band themselves, played by Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy and Joseph Mazzello. Supporting them is Tom Hollander (playing their manager Jim Beach, who also produced the film), Mike Myers and Adam McCusker, who put in some good work too, but of course, with its release falling in the half term holiday week here in the UK, the big question is whether it will hold its audience, Based on what I seen tonight, and chats with my old pal Graham (hello to him and the team by the way), this film should do well, especially as there were only 8 seats left for my screening. 

THE VERDICT

After years in development, Bohemian Rhapsody has truly roared into cinema screens around the world- and while it isn’t the masterpiece we were hoping for, I can safely say that for the film’s core audience of Queen fans, this is the best attempt to take on Mercury’s story. Casual audiences may have issues, but once you hear the almighty thud of We Will Rock You in 7.1 surround sound, all of that is forgotten- because this is a film designed to entertain and inform.

RATING: 4/5