Relive the 70's and the rise of Queen!

Rating: 9/10 (23 October 2018)

Director Bryan Singer ("X-Men" series) brings the life of Queen's frontman Freddy Mercury (Rami Malek "Mr. Robot" TV) and the band to the big screen with a vengeance. With screenplay by Anthony McCarten ("The Theory of Everything") and story by McCarten and Peter Morgan (Writer, Producer, Actor), the film chronicles the mates climb to music notoriety, highlighting Freddy's frontman antics, the now notorious 1985 "Live Aide" concert performance, and of course the death of Freddy to Aids in 1991. Malek, who is unpleasantly overly made up to mimic Freddy's unique jaw line, teeth and hair, is plausible as the driven young British Zanzibar vocalist Farrokh (his given name). As the mature Freddy, he's given all the outrageous costumes (by Julian Day) and Freddy's dances moves, and pulls them off with ease, even though his lip-syncing is over the top at times. What Director Singer does well here, is provide backstory to the raise and demise of Mercury, including a look into his personal family dynamics, his little know love affair to Mary (Lucy Boynton "Murder on the Orient Express"), who graciously sticks by him through his ups and downs, and a look at the effect Freddy's significant lovers Paul Prenter (Allen Leech "Downton Abbey" TV) and Jim Hutton (Aaron Mccosker "The Astronaut Wives Club" TV) had on his life, both who give moving subtle glimpses into Freddy's behind the glamour world. To McCarten and Morgan's credit, they provide an in-depth look at Queen's band members bassist John Deacan (Joseph Mazzello "The Cure"), drummer Roger Taylor (Ben Hardy "X-Men: Apocalypse") and guitarist Brian May (Gwilym Lee "Jamestown" TV), demonstrating that the band was truly comprised of all four guys. As with most music oriented bio-pics, the film is packed with all the music and excitement one expects from Queen, and it's loud and powerful. Mike Meyers ("SNL") has a nice cameo as Queen's EMI chief Ray Forster - although I think I saw and heard "Austin Powers" in his performance. And, Aidan Gillen ("Game of Thrones") does a nice job as the guys music manager John Reid. Only a fool would pan this film, so check it out for yourself, and relive the 70's and the rise of Queen!