Is this Queen's real life, or is this just a fantasy? Well let's just say it's a mix of both, but to the tune of some of the greatest songs ever written.
After a false start and a tonne of bad press, Bohemian Rhapsody makes it to the big screen. Instead of Sacha Baron Cohen in the lead role, Mr Robot breakout star Rami Malek bravely signed on as Freddie Mercury. It turns out to be great casting.
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The film has a Kiwi connection, with Oscar-nominated Kiwi screenwriter Anthony McCarten bringing the story to the screen, and he starts at the beginning by cleverly building to the global crescendo of Live Aid.
Some truly bad wigs give way to a much slicker delivery. The film moves onwards with the story throwing in the history of some of the band's greatest hits and, under the creative guidance of Brian May and Roger Taylor, their version of the history of Freddie Mercury and the band Queen.
It's perfectly watchable, but never scales the dizzying heights this superstar rock band and its iconic lead singer deserve.
I am a diehard Freddie fan, and nothing and no one could ever be the one-off he was, but this film, while entirely PG and even forgettable, isn't the trainwreck it could have been.
Rami Malek is convincing enough under pressure to play Mercury well, and as the Hollywood version of the story of Queen, I enjoy it quite a bit.
Three-and-a half-stars.
Newshub.
