Bravo, Brava

Rating: 9/10 (9 November 2018)

The movie did not have to work hard to find its feet and reach a wide audience, given the built-in following for Queen and the actors that accompanied this biography. Following the formation of the band and its rise to glory on an international stage, this film features Freddie Mercury on his Icarus-like climb to the top. The film had one major advantage: a built-in soundtrack. The movie is built around a musical group, and one widely liked, and as such had no end of songs with which to bolster the action. The sweeping operatic songs managed to reach through the screen and reach the audience in much the same way they did when originally released, and gave the film a third dimension that otherwise would have not been possible. The use of the songs both as plot points and as emotional linchpins and indicators was cleverly done and well executed. Overall, a well-done film, though one cannot account for every factual accuracy or acting choice.