London, 1970. Farrokh "Freddie" Bulsara works as a baggage handler at Heathrow Airport, but dreams of a bigger life: one lived on the stage. His chance comes when he goes to see the band 'Smile' play at a local club. It's their planned gig: they've just lost their lead singer.
"Freddie" applies for the position. He lacks his predecessor's movie star good looks, but he's definitely got a stronger voice. He's also a fine song-writer, and has huge ambition. He legally changes his name to Freddie Mercury, persuades the band to adopt the moniker "Queen", and well ... the rest is history. Over a dozen hit albums released over three different decades. A greatest hits album that solid 15 million copies in the US alone. A world-stopping live performance at Live Aid 1985.
What's not history is most of this film. which is only very loosely based on the life and career of one of the world's most memorable entertainers and most accomplished vocalists. The surviving members of Queen were heavily involved in the development of the picture and its events are sometimes quite highly fictionalised for purposes of drama. For example, the sub-plot about Freddie being tempted by a solo career, and the dissension this causes in the band, is complete fiction. Drummer Roger Taylor was actually the first member of Queen to release a solo project, nearly a decade before Mercury did so. Similarly the presentation of the band's preparation for Live Aid, and Freddie's concurrent struggle with his AIDS diagnosis. The film merrily ignores the truth (the band were actively touring together just weeks before the concert, and Mercury's diagnosis was not until a year or two later) in favour of the more narratively convenient "emotional reunion and masterful performance" finale.
But of course, this is a bio-pic, not a true biography, and some (or a lot) of artistic license in the name of entertainment is to be expected. If you want a true account of Freddie's life, or of Queen's history as a band, you will need to look elsewhere. This is not that movie. It's much more interested in telling a neatly packaged, relatively conventional narrative with some bangin' tunes in it.
I know some people who have complained about the film's structure: "It's just a bunch of scenes of them recording their biggest hits, like a bunch of music videos strung together". To which my answer is: "Yeah, but that's exactly the movie about Queen that I want." They're a band who delivered some hugely memorable tunes, filled with bombast and swagger. This film unabashedly celebrates their music, and as a long-time fan, I am quite okay with that.
Of course, no matter how much great Queen music you throw up there, a film like this is going to live or die on its casting of Freddie Mercury. He was one of the greatest entertainers of all time, and a weak performance would sink the film. I'm pleased to say that Rami Malek most definitely does not deliver a weak performance. He captures Mercury's charisma and bravado, as well as his loneliness and insecurity in a world that he knows is still deeply prejudiced against men of his sexuality. It's the virtuosic performance the role requires. Excellent work.
If you've ever enjoyed Queen's music, this is worth a watch.
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