Why this movie succeeded... the music & Rami!

Rating: 10/10 (9 July 2019)

Here are some very common criticisms about this movie that I want to address:
1) Facts/timelines being altered and Freddie's sexuality being "sanitized", whitewashed", "watered down", etc: Not everyone cares that facts weren't exactly facts. This isn't a documentary! And not everyone wants or needs to see Freddie snorting coke and having sex to know he was wild. We know his history. This movie was a celebration of the music.
2) "The lip syncing Rami Malek": If people care to do research about these things, they'll know that Rami didn't lip sync. He sang every day and Freddie's voice was mixed with his in post-production.
3) I find it hilarious that people have criticized the size of Rami's fake teeth in the movie and call it a caricature of Freddie. Honestly...where have they been? Did they ever look at the real Freddie in video or pictures? He had both massive teeth and a massive overbite. You could see the full size of them when he smiled fully, which didn't happen often because of how self conscious he was. Rami actually had a larger set of teeth initially that were closer to Freddie's real size but he couldn't get comfortable with how big they were so they downsized them. By criticizing Rami's fake teeth they are criticizing Freddie's real teeth. They were a unique trait of his and something he decided to not change about himself, and they had to be honoured in the movie in the most true-to-life way possible.
4) The biopic cliches such as humble beginnings, rise to fame, struggles with drugs/alcohol/sex, band breaking up, seeing the error of their ways, redemption: The fact is that because of fame, excessive amounts of money, and rising egos, a lot of these cliches depicted in biopics are actually the real struggles that people in the music business go through. It's not as far-fetched of a concept that people think it is just for the sake of a Hollywood story. And other than some inaccuracies shown like Freddie breaking up the band, everything else that fell into the cliche categories was pretty much true for Queen and Freddie. They even said themselves that Live Aid was the performance that re-solidified them as a group because at that point they didn't know if they had a future together and were on the verge of breaking up.
5) Some people think this movie is overrated and don't understand why people like it so much... Overrated..? Really? It started getting hate when the trailer dropped in spring of 2018. Then when the movie came out it got dumped on even more, which continued right through awards season, and then when Rocketman came out it got yet another dumping. The fact that it won 4 Oscars, made a lot of money at the box office and has a very good IMDb rating makes it a classic case of the underdog coming out on top. Much like the song Bohemian Rhapsody, it survived the hate and has almost been a kind of Phoenix rising from the ashes...getting beaten down over and over but still managing to conquer the odds and become a hit. That is why you should never underestimate the underdog and allow yourself to fall victim to the critics opinions, which by the way, are NOT gospel. People need to form their own opinions of movies and not let the critics sway them so easily.
Now..the reason this movie has been such a success is because it was as if Rami Malek brought Freddie back from the dead! That coupled with the exhilarating music and performance scenes (especially the outstanding Live Aid scene) brought on a certain ethereal quality that inevitably captured so many people's hearts and made them cheer on the resurgence of the greatest rock band, and the greatest frontman, of all time. Watching this movie makes you feel like you're in a time machine!
6) Many people can't believe the movie won 4 Oscars. It shouldn't be hard to understand:
Best Actor: this one's obvious. Rami was on fire!
Sound Editing/Sound Mixing: also obvious. Music movies always have an advantage when it comes to awards season.
Film Editing: the one that has been criticized to an absurd amount and been made into a huge joke everywhere online because of one very poorly edited scene and because everyone has bonded over the idea that that scene is representative of the entire editing process. The reason the movie won this is because of the Live Aid scene. Watch comparison videos on YouTube of the real Live Aid vs. this one and it's clear as day why it deserved to win. Not to mention all of the performance scenes were edited really well with lots of fast cuts to provide energy to the story.
Overall, I adore this movie! Rami was brilliant and it was fun and lively, with a killer soundtrack! The Live Aid sequence especially blew me away. I've never seen a real life event replicated so perfectly and in such intricate detail. I wish people would realize how unfairly harsh they've been on the movie. It brought back Queen's music for all the generations and was a great, uplifting celebration of the band and Freddie! I don't know why they were expecting something else...