I see An Oscar Win In the Near Future, Go See It, Go See It, Go See queen's movie this weekend!

Rating: 10/10 (3 November 2018)

The musical legend that took the world by storm. A man's whose voice is immortal and rings through the halls, rooms, and cars of today. The legendary band of Europe with music for the people has been waiting for a movie to represent their majesty, and everything they brought to the world. Tonight, after months of advertising and media promotion, the wait is over and the movie is upon us. With it, yours truly is back to give a later review, in hopes of helping bring justice and some help in determining your movie viewing pleasure. So get your concert boots on, your voices warmed up, and your hearts open for Robbie K's review on:
Movie: Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
Director:
Bryan Singer
Writers:
Anthony McCarten (story by), Peter Morgan (story by)
Stars:
Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee

LIKES:
The Acting: You've got a legendary character, you need to be ready to step up to the plate, and the casting call nailed the pick with Rami Malek. The Mr. Robot star continues to shine in his acting, apparently doing his homework to resurrect the legend for the modern age. Watching clips in preparation for the interview, Singer's direction with Malek's skills are incredible to watch. His mannerisms, his flair, his passion, and his approach match the various resources I picked up, and is the strong, central pillar to lift this movie to new heights. Malek's portrayal brings so many emotions to the screen to get you embedded into the movie and the actor's life. In addition, the rest of the cast is amazing, each contributing member of Mercury's life given incredible screen time and involvement to craft the family that got him through so much. The incredible involvement of everyone in this production really crafted the perfect cast to bring you into the full experience at hand.
The Direction: Musical biographies are always a challenge for me to review, because I go for the concert experience and a little for the life. Sadly, the balance often shifts in the second half to the life, leading to usually a slower, depressing story. Bohemian Rhapsody though, manages to break this mold and keep the energy of the movie going from start to finish. Singer managed to find the perfect entanglement of personal story, band drama, creative process, and concert experience, leading to an energetic, cinematic experience that make syou feel like part of a VH-1 behind the scenes experience. It crafts something for everyone and should be entertaining from start to finish for whatever type of story you want in this genre.
The Costumes/Setting/Craft: You've got the director and the acting, but now you need the look and this is where Rhapsody's crew excels at once more. While not the most complex makeup at times, this film's has managed to take us back in time to the 70s and 80s in setting, fashion, and look of the actors. My friends and I agreed that they brought the band back in exact replica detail, from the hairstyles, to the looks that evolved over time in aging and appearance. Transformation of the setting and decades keeps you immersed into the character's evolution and further invest your interest to the story and movie at hand. Of course Mercury's recreation gets the top honors over all, but nevertheless, it's a sensational piece of makeup, costumes, and detail worthy of an award or five.
The Concert Experience/Art/Music: The biggest delight of this movie, outside of the balance of story to music, is the music itself. Bohemian Rhapsody highlights the music creating process, showing the struggles and inspiration of their work as they crafted what they considered the perfect tracks. As the music comes to completion, the film jumps right into the performance, bringing the legendary vocals and music back to full, theater stomping delight, and unleashing it to the brim. Rhapsody hits almost all of the classic songs without overplaying the work, and making sure to give you the concert experience you've been dreaming of. This is especially true with the final scene, where the legendary 20-minute performance is recreated, almost every detail painstakingly recreated to pay honor to the legend. I hope many appreciate the hard work in this movie and more importantly the epic fire of Queen's music.
The Class: When it comes to Queen's and the band's interesting history, one should expect a lot of topics and scenes that can make on uncomfortable. A nod to the direction again, because in this film all these very sensitive topics are portrayed in a very dignified manner. Rather than sexually aggressive, dirty, gritty portrayals and over the top dialogue, Bohemian Rhapsody manages to portray the darker moments in a dignified light to explain the history without detracting from the experience at hand. Even the comedy is magically crafted into the scene, not forcing itself upon the audience for a laugh, but instead flowing naturally with the personality of Queen and the scenes at hand. It's movies like these that make this reviewer smile wide and realize that Hollywood has not been completely lost yet.
DISLIKES:
The length: Hard to find fault in this movie, but I can say that the movie was a little long at point, a few scenes that could have probably been left out to minimize the run time to just about 2 hours. A small dislike indeed, but I'm grasping at straws here.
A Little Less Of The Dark/Slower Moments: The scenes to be removed would have been some involving Paul, who's manipulation of the system crafted a good antagonist, but sometimes was a little long winded. If I could have substituted these scenes with more of Mary and his family components I would have, because it may have shed a little more light on that aspect and kept in the positive energy of the movie. I don't want the darker moments erased completely, after all they made the band shine at times, but still a little less loss of momentum was my preference.
The VERDICT:
Surprised that I don't have more dislikes? Well utilize that to note how much I loved this movie and how well put together it was. Queen's epic legacy is captured beautifully in this movie, though how much is dramatized and real is something I don't know. Note however, that this is the musical biography that currently holds the throne in this reviewer's eyes. A balance of story and drama with music is the key, with direction to keep the momentum of the film going and the energy alive. Fantastic acting and costumes further the experience, bringing you into the throngs of Queen's struggles and drama, while paying homage to the craftmanship of their work. Bohemian Rhapsody is the concert movie I've always wanted and with it, yours truly hopes to see it win big in the awards to come, not only for the movie itself, but for the legacy of Queen. I strongly encourage everyone to see it in theaters, this weekend if possible, to get the most out of your experience with this film. So please check it out asap.
My scores are:
Biography/Drama/Music: 9.5-10
Movie Overall: 8.5-9.0