Superb: engaging, entertaining and moving

Rating: 9/10 (21 July 2019)

The story of rock band Queen, with particular emphasis on the life of their flamboyant, larger-than-life vocalist, Freddie Mercury.
Superb. While being a fan of Queen, I wasn't sure how this would turn out. This movie could easily have turned into a conventional, linear telling of the Queen / Freddie Mercury story. For the first half it appeared that this was going to be the case: director Bryan Singer whizzes through their early history with the interest largely being sustained by the fantastic music.
However, from a point the movie becomes highly engaging and quite moving. The music is still great but the characters have more depth and the band dynamic comes more to the fore. Moreover, the emptiness of Freddie Mercury's life and his diagnosis with AIDS are examined, making for a profound and emotional second half.
Perfect ending too. Singer could easily have ended the movie with Mercury's death, which would have made for a sentimental yet predictable and down-beat conclusion. Instead he chooses the moment of Mercury's, and Queen's, greatest triumph, making for a joyous, positive ending. Rather than mourning Mercury's death, we're celebrating his life.
Great performances all round. The problem with biopics is that either you often have to choose between actors who look the part, but then can't act, and good actors who don't look the part. Here there were no compromises: the actors can act and they look like their real-life characters.
Superb performance by Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury, a performance that saw him win the 2019 Oscar for Best Actor. His teeth do steal the show though...