Way Better Than Expected

Rating: 8/10 (5 November 2018)

I'm a huge Queen and Freddie Mercury fan, and a bit of a snob when it comes to portrayals of Freddie/the band. Even though I knew that Brian May and Roger Taylor were intimately involved in the movie, I was worried it was going to suck because it's just so hard to do justice to a band and a person that were so larger than life. Malek is wonderful as Mercury. Gwilym Lee played Brian May so well that a couple of times I couldn't tell the difference between he and May. Mazello played Deacon really well, especially 80s Deaky. Ben Hardy was perfectly "meh."
Two glaring issues I saw: The scene where Brian tells the band about his idea for WWRY, Freddie in the scene has short hair and a mustache. WWRY was written in '77 though, while Freddie didn't adopt his short hair and mustache until 1980. Also, there is a scene where Freddie is describing to Mary how amazing it was to sing "Love Of My Life" in front of an audience (in Brazil). Well, that scene took place somewhere in the mid-70s (Freddie and Mary were still together, and he still had long hair!), but Queen didn't tour South America until 1981's The Game Tour.
I can't for the life of me understand the reason for both inaccuracies. I understand the "artistic licence" aspect of these kinds of movies, but what was the point in mixing up these timelines? It couldn't have been a mere oversight, since Brian May and Roger Taylor were both creative consultants for the film (unless they happened to miss both of these scenes), right? Otherwise, I can't come up with a compelling reason for mixing up these timelines. Most casual observers probably wouldn't notice these flaws, but both slightly spoiled the experience for me. Still, it's very solid movie, and as a "Queenie," I can't get enough of the band!