Then a few days later, i finally for to see Bohemian Rhapsody, which isn't a doco at all, its more of a story telling of the life of Freddy Mercury and Queen from 1970 when they all met, culminating in their now legendary performance at Live Aid in 1985.
Really, this is a film that should have failed. It went through about 3 or 4 directors, the lead actor changed, there was a lot of arguments about how the film should be done (i think Sasha Baron Cohen, the original actor hired wanted something much more gritty about Fredie, and the band wanted more about the band with a more PG feel). But, after something like 8 years, it just came together. Remi Malek has launched himself from being a cult star to the toast of Hollywood. There is also a small but significant role played by Mike Myers, one of those roles where, unless you know he's in the film, you may not have noticed it was him (think tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder). I thought Myers was an interesting casting, considering it was the release of Wayne's World, as well as Freddie's death only a months prior that catapulted Bohemian Rhapsody to the top of the charts, and introduced my generation to the band's music.
The firm main criticism people have of the film is the "historical inaccuracies". i won't go into them in detail here, but there are a few, and nobody is denying it. After all, people will find out. However, I don't think any of them are that big a deal, and none of them change the overall result, and i can see why some of them were done for dramatic effect.
The second main criticism people have seems to be that Freddie's gayness and hard core partying was glossed over a bit in order to make it more palatable. I don't agree here either. We knew Freddie was homosexual, who fucked a shitload of people, did heaps of drugs and got aids. I think that point came across with him necessary having full blown bum sex on the screen. There was nothing really hardcore during his relationship with Mary Austin either.
Like Vice, you probably should at least know and appreciate some of Queen's music. Pretty much everyone in the cinema was singing to themselves and tapping their feet. A lot of their songs are featured, from Killer Queen to Radio Gaga. Thumbs up from me - 8/10.