Bohemian Rhapsody review: Like Freddie himself Rami Malek gives a performance for the ages

Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek) and Brian May (Gwylim Lee) in the recording studio.

Bohemian Rhapsody (PG-13)

Directed by Bryan Singer

Starring Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwylim Lee, Ben Hardy, Joseph Mazzello, Aidan Gillen, Allen Leech, Tom Hollander, Mike Myers

Caution: Some spoilers ahead!

Freddie Mercury is a larger-than-life character that we've all been waiting to see properly portrayed on film. Rami Malek was given the role of a lifetime, and as Freddie did on stage Malek's performance commands your full attention and exudes control, confidence and charisma. For this reason, Bohemian Rhapsody works.

Freddie Mercury (Malek) performaing at Live Aid in 1985.

Telling the story of such a well-known figure is certainly difficult since a lot of his fans know so much about him. With biopics like this it is important to tell an engaging story while being as true to real life as possible. There are certainly inaccuracies in this movie, inaccuracies that might affect how you feel about the whole movie in general.

But because of Malek's performance, it's worth a watch.

The movie takes us through several years in the life of Mercury, his real name was Farrokh Bulsara, and focuses on his time with Queen and leads up to the 1985 concert Live Aid. Now while Mercury was known to be homosexual and also for ultimately dying of AIDS, the movie doesn't give heavy focus to either aspect of his life. Some would argue missed opportunities there, but Mercury's legacy is his music and that the film tells us all about and in great detail.

The soundtrack is filled with classic Queen songs as we learn how some of them were written. Bassist John Deacon (Mazzello who played Timmy in Jurassic Park) interrupts a fight between his fellow band mates with his catchy, smooth bass riff from "Another One Bites the Dust." Guitarist Brian May (Lee) wants to allow the fans a chance to be in the band so comes up with a tune in which audience members can clap and stomp which ultimately leads to the anthem "We Will Rock You." And, of course, we get to witness the composition of one of the most elaborate hits in music history, the titular "Bohemian Rhapsody." A memorable part of that scene is watching drummer Roger Taylor (Hardy) sing the word "Galileo" as high as he can several times.

These songs are so familiar to all of us that it's so much fun to watch them morph from idea to full-blown rock classic right in front of us.

The performances of the band members are enjoyable and we really get to know them as the movie progresses. And they really look like their real life counterparts especially Gwylim Lee as Brian May. Lucy Boynton is also memorable as Mary Austin, Mercury's longtime friend.

Mary Austin (Boynton) helping Freddie find his new look.

The slickest casting choice was Mike Myers as a record executive who passes on releasing the album A Night at the Opera and eventual smash hit "Bohemian Rhapsody." The casting choice is slick because the song was high on the charts twice; upon it's initial release in 1975 and again in 1992 after it was brought back into the pop culture fold with Myers' Wayne's World.
The movie builds up to the Live Aid concert and if you're waiting to just see that scene, it is worth waiting for. It feels as if the actors legitimately performed the 20+ minute set to a live audience at Wembley Stadium and the filmmakers simply filmed it. I know much more went into it, but if you've seen the real Live Aid set then you'll know they attempted to duplicate the real show as much as possible giving the viewer an onstage pass to watch it all happen. After all of the emotions leading up to that moment it's really something to sit back and enjoy the climactic "We are the Champions." It will likely produce goosebumps and/or tears.
The main reason to see this is Rami Malek. Whether he wins the Oscar or not, we'll be talking about this performance for a long time.

Left to right: Roger Taylor (Ben Hardy), Brian May (Gwylim Lee), John Deacon (Joseph Mazzello) and Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek) in the booth recording "Bohemian Rhapsody."