Rami Malek was magical! Freddie would be proud!!

Rating: 10/10 (27 May 2019)

I saw this movie the night before it opened, on November 1st, 2018. For some reason I never got around to reviewing it back then. I don't know how many people will read this since it was out 6 months ago, but I still wanted to write my perspective on it.
So here I go... Before this movie I had only seen Rami Malek in one movie, and just from that I became an instant fan. That man knows how to act!
When I left the theatre after seeing Bo Rhap I walked home and the entire way I kept saying to myself "Rami is so winning an Oscar for that" over and over. It was kind of an instinctive thing that came to me but I also knew that it was pretty early into awards season to make that kind of prediction. But I am really glad I spoke that into the air!
Rami was just perfection on screen! Ever since that night I dove into watching countless interviews of him talking about the movie and his prep for it. What a committed, hard-working, but also humble and grateful guy he is. For someone who is self-proclaimed "not a singer and not a dancer" he really pulled off a beautifully convincing performance. He took singing lessons and did sing in the movie, but Freddie's voice was blended into his, with the edited result being mostly Freddie's voice coming through. He had Freddie's mannerisms down, his mouth movements, his sense of humour, his onstage energy and charm, and his sensitivity and vulnerability. I can't say enough good things about him. I'm so grateful for this movie because it turned me into a massive fan of both Rami AND Queen (most specifically Freddie)!
The movie had great flow and pace and I loved the editing, especially all the cuts during the performance scenes. It provided a feeling of great energy and felt like you were right there onstage with them or in the audience. I also loved some of the camera transitions they did like swish pans and match cuts. It was all very creative and fun. There's a scene near the beginning of the movie (the band's meeting with John Reid) that has been bashed online for it's poor editing and now people are saying the entire movie is terribly edited and are outraged that it won an Oscar for editing. It's like someone throws an idea out there and everyone runs with it like wildfire. I can guarantee the reason the movie won for editing is because of how perfectly the Live Aid sequence at the end of the movie matches that of the real one from 1985. There are comparison videos online and the similarities are mind-blowing, not only for the editing, but mostly for how Rami nailed Freddie's performance almost to a T! I'm also convinced that is what sealed the deal for Rami to win the best actor Oscar.
As for the criticisms this movie has had to constantly endure... I feel so disgusted by all of it. I don't know understand why so many people feel the need to tear it to shreds. Yes, the timelines of a lot of the events are mixed around and it showed a very tame PG version of Freddie's wild lifestyle, but why is that such a horrid thing? Something in the movie worked apparently because it made almost 1 billion $ worldwide, won 4 Oscars, and has a great rating on here.
I think it was very wise of them to make it suitable for all audiences because that is exactly how they raked in so much profit! Freddie endured so much hate from the press during his career for his flamboyant persona and sexuality that it would've been disrespectful to him if his bandmates allowed a "smear piece" to be made about him and his sexual indiscretions and drug use, without his approval or consent first..which was obviously not possible since he's not around.
This movie focused on Freddie as the musical genius he was, and provided us with enough information about his background and struggles in order to sympathize with him, but not too much to the point that it felt like a depressing pity party or that anything was unnecessarily gratuitous. I think it was very effective in its execution of that. I walked out of the theatre feeling uplifted and like I had just witnessed a true celebration of a great man and artist! Because of this movie, Queen's music has now simultaneously reached many generations, which is a very exciting thing.
I've seen some reviews of Rocketman, the Elton John biopic coming out in a few days, and there are some very unfair comparisons to Bo Rhap. One is how Rocketman, being a musical, challenges the traditional biopic storytelling/arc that Bo Rhap had, and that it is "superior" to it. My question is what is wrong with the traditional biopic format? Some people prefer that style of storytelling and some people would prefer a musical version. No one's opinion is right or wrong. It's all about what speaks to each individual person, and I personally was very touched by Bo Rhap, especially when it came to Freddie's humble beginnings, his relationship with Mary, him kind of losing sight of what was important, his AIDS diagnosis, and Queen's triumphant Live Aid performance.
People have also criticized the movie for not being completely accurate but this is a Hollywood movie, it's not a documentary. There are great Queen and Freddie documentaries out there that they can access if "facts" are that important to them. No biopic movie is completely 100% accurate. They're more for purposes of entertainment rather than education. It is the entertainment industry, after all.
So that's just some stuff I wanted to speak on. I've read so much hate for this movie ever since November, and it's gotten a little out of hand. How many awards, IMDb votes, and $ is a movie supposed to receive/make before people realize that they might've been wrong to judge it so harshly?
Funny how things have come full circle - Bohemian Rhapsody the song was a critical failure but the world loved it and now this movie is experiencing the exact same thing. Freddie is no doubt laughing at this!