“You’re a legend, Fred.” “We’re all legends.”  The story of Queen and Freddie Mercury comes to the big screen in the film Bohemian Rhapsody from 20th Century Fox. Just like the song of the same name, the movie is an epic tale, showing Freddie’s struggles with fame and identity. Viewers get to know Freddie by his real name, Farrokh Bulsara and get to know his true nature as a man and artist. It is also produced by two of the surviving members of the band, Brian May and Roger Taylor. Bohemian Rhapsody will make you laugh and cry, but most importantly, feel inspired to be an individual.

The film grossed $51,061,119 in the US on its opening weekend. MetaCritic rates the movie at a 49, but many moviegoers loved the movie. Google says that 98% of viewers enjoyed the movie. Within the film, there is a scene where the song “Bohemian Rhapsody” gets bad reviews, yet audiences love it. This seems to be the same case with the film.

Though the movie is very enjoyable, there are two main problems: the pacing and the historical inaccuracies. The pacing is especially off in the beginning, as there are jumps from the recording of Queen I to completely missing Sheer Heart Attack even though the film covers “Killer Queen,” their breakout song, when it was on that album. The film begins to even out when the band begins to record “Bohemian Rhapsody.” 

If you were a Queen superfan, you might be disappointed in the film. Coming from Brian May and Roger Taylor, you would expect more. The movie portrays Freddie as someone filled with vices compared to the other members. Due to Freddie’s death in 1991, we may never get his true story. It certainly seems as though some members changed the timeline a bit for their benefit. But, if you look it as a “foot-stomping celebration of Queen” as the film’s tagline suggests, you would have fun. The film definitely scores points under the casting category, as the actors look almost identical to their real life counterparts. Rami Malek’s performance as Freddie Mercury is incredible. Overall, Bohemian Rhapsody is a fun look at Queen’s legacy, and hopefully helps the band garner new fans and reminds old ones why they became fans in the first place.

Bohemian Rhapsody is rated PG-13 and runs for 2 hours and 14 minutes. The film stars Rami Malek, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, and Joe Mazzello.