Bohemian Rhapsody is a biopic exploring the band Queen, with a heavy emphasis on Freddie Mercury’s life and death in lieu of focusing on Queen’s entirety. Before watching this, do not expect a movie about all the members’ struggles throughout. Another caveat is you are expected to know about Queen as a whole to get the movie, and while you can watch it with fresh eyes, some moments definitely go over your head.

The depictions of Brian May, Freddie Mercury, John Deacon, and Roger Taylor are spot on when it comes to personality and looks. In most of the movie they were able to accurately recreate iconic scenes, such as the Live Aid Concert which they mimicked perfectly down to the cups on the piano. Also, there was a great implementation of songs in the movie. They were able to avoid songs being solely added as a crowd-pleaser, but rather chose songs with importance to them, with some of the music even being re-recorded by the living members of Queen.

While the design is good, the movie falls short. They rush through the first third of the movie, which is primarily about their formation, then slow down to a crawl once they begin to discuss Freddie’s sexuality. On the topic of that, the movie did not shy away. They were very true of how Freddie was: the good and the bad, the duality of his emotions during his marriage of Mary Austin, from his life of extravagance, to his eventual AIDS. Rami Malek, who plays Freddie Mercury, is exceptional is this aspect and is able to do Mercury justice with his mannerisms and just honesty in playing his role. They are so detailed almost to a fault, which makes the movie’s 2 hour and 13 min run-time feel much longer than it should.

The third portion is definitely the crowning moment, with the Live Aid Concert as the backdrop; it is an emotional end and gives a semi happy ending even knowing Freddie’s death is soon. It leaves us with a eulogy to Mercury and promotion of the Mercury Phoenix Trust, which was a nice touch. If it was more rounded out in what details were focused upon I believe we would have been left with a much better movie.

I would give this an 8/10. Even with the pacing and details flaws, we are still left with a movie that looks nice, has great acting, and a solid script. If you read more into Queen, you will enjoy this more, that I can promise you. It is now playing at Paragon Village 12, Regal Cinemas Fredericksburg 14, and AMC Potomac Mills 18.