A solid and well-told biography of the famous singer brought to life by a spectacular performance from Malek

Rating: 9/10 (1 November 2018)

Bohemian Rhapsody is a biopic about the life of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury. Starring Mr. Robot's Rami Malek in the lead role, it is a solid and well-told biography of the famous singer brought to life by a spectacular performance from Malek.
In 1970, young Pakistani British Farrokh "Freddie" Bulsara (Rami Malek) aspires to be a successful singer/songwriter. One day, Freddie approaches the band "Smile" after their lead singer quits and asks to replace him. Despite their reservations, the band recruits Freddie and begin to start performing with him across various pubs and colleges in London. One year later, the band has become world famous after Freddie decides to change the group's name to "Queen" and his own name to "Freddie Mercury".
Energetic and touching at times, Bohemian Rhapsody does a superb job of showcasing how one extremely talented yet imperfect man helped transform a small London band into one of the hugest and best-selling rock groups in history. Rami Malek's performance as Freddie is simply flawless, even more so than what Sacha Baron Cohen could have ever been. Malek perfectly embodies and emits just the right amount of swagger and flamboyance Freddie was best known for beyond simply physically resembling him. There were even times where he indistinguishable from the real man. The music, as to be expected, was amazing, and being a longtime fan of Queen, I had to resist the urge to sing out loud in a cinema full of people. The film's depiction of the band's 1985 LIVE AID performance at Wembley Stadium is so realistic one would swear they were actually in the audience. While some purists may complain that the film follows the typical biopic formula and does little to derive from it, I feel that this does not diminish the overall entertainment quality too much and I recommend filmgoers see it on their own terms and decide for themselves.
I rate it 8.5/10