BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY  4.0****

Wow. What a brilliantly made film .Director Brian Singer has walked a sublime tightrope in creating a wonderfully engaging, funny and emotional film without turning it into a sleezy Hollywood smarm fest. This incredible story takes us on the journey of one of the most iconic rock bands of all time, Queen, and gives us a look at not only the birth and life of the band but a peek behind the curtain into the life of one of music's biggest legends and Queen front man, Freddie Mercury. From their humble beginnings playing college shows to their historic performance at 1985's Live Aid concert, “Bohemian Rhapsody” will take you on one hell of a rock n' roll ride.

Rami Malek is of course the star and his performance as Freddie is uncanny. Rami Malek takes on the role of Freddie Mercury with all the charm and swagger that the real man gave off. He is incredible. Most of the vocals are Freddie’s originals but Malek does attempt some of his own with commendable success, and you quickly forget it's not actually Mercury himself. If Malek doesn't at least earn an Oscar Best Actor nomination for this role, there is no justice in the Oscars.

Unlike some biopics the music itself does by no means fall by the wayside and there is a multitude of Queen classics crammed into the just over 2 hours running time. I was pleasantly surprised as to how much of the movie was dedicated to the music and if I hadn’t been in a movie theater I would have spent half the time air guitaring and singing at the top of my voice. (in fact during the last 10 minutes I did sing with gusto) Of course we have a lot of the film dedicated to Freddie and his declining social life, behavior and ultimately health and this is handled with so much respect and emotion that at no point does it seem forced or uncomfortable.

The film follows a classic rise, fall and rise again formula culminating in a final fist pumping, rousing half hour which sees the band bust out in what many say is the greatest live performance of all time as they re-emerge for Wembley’s Live-Aid concert.  What we  get with this exhilarating movie is a barnstorming, foot-tapping, heart pumping movie which for me is without a doubt one of the best Music biopics ever made. Go see it.

Rated PG-13 for certain elements, suggestive material, drug content and language