The movie for every Queen fan

Rating: 6/10 (29 March 2019)

Queen is the kind of band I could listen too for hours without getting tired of it. One of the most famous and greatest rock bands in history, with a legacy larger than life. The question is, how well can a movie really preserve and retell a story as grand as this? Turns out it can do it just fine.
From listening to reviews, they seem to be split into to parts: Hating it, or loving it. But I have fallen in between that space. The hatred and bad critisim against it I find hard to understand, as it really isn't all that bad, but neither can I comprehend why people have such love for this film. Rather, I beilieve, do they have an uncondicional love for Freddie and Queen, submitting them into loving it.
The first 15 or 20 minutes of this movie I found quite annoying and unnecessary. Yes, it shows the backstory of how queen was formed, but that's about it. It is a series of montages that puts queen on the world map, showing the members touring and signing contracts. But it could've just as easily been cut out of the movie, given that it provides little to none information. The montages continues further in the movie, and I am not a fan of them. I personally think montages are just a way when the writers are lazy and tries to put in as much information as possible. Neither do I think they were especially well made for this film.
Moreover, other problems I have with this film is it's editing, and I don't really understand the reason it won an Oscar for this. The editing at times feels interrupting and clumsy, and some scenes feel almost irrelevant and some cuts are more disrupting than purposful. Furthermore, this movie felt more as a movie about Freddy Mercury than one about Queen. Sure, he is the big star, but he keeps talking about the importance of the group, not excluding anyone. The other bandmembers feel unattended and forgotten. Their backstories fall out of the picture, as well as their respective traits making them feel like very bland and flat characters. I have nothing against Freddy, I just wished more attention had been paid to the other bandmembers, because they felt left out and almost not even necessary to the plot.
Nevertheless, lets not forget what this movie excells in, exactly what it should excel in, providing an entertaining experience for watchers as close to the feeling of attending an acutal Queen concert. Of course nothing will eveer compare to the real thing, but it was nice to see her Majesty back up on the stage again. And lets not forget the best thing which is Rami Malek's performance. He has done great research and captured the spirit of Freddy spot on.
While the story feels unprocessed, and the editing is somewhat off, it still manages to deliver a sometimes funny sometimes heartbraking event. But that is due to the good performances rather than good scriptwriting, and the emotional connection might just be because it is Queen, and not any other band we're watching. It is also their music that make this movie survive. Had it been another band, I'm not sure anyone would have been bothered to sit out the whole screening.
The songs of Queen as well as Rami's performance makes you forget about the mistakes, which is why this movie is enjoyable. This movie is not bad, but neither is it amazing. I wanted more from it.
When it comes together, this movie is entertaining, but mostly due to Malek's outstanding performance, and to the brilliant music Queen had already made. The film in itself, is okay at the best, needing some extra work. As to the question if it captures the story of queen: It does it well enough.