Rami Malek’s unbeatable performance in Bohemian Rhapsody, as the renowned rock star legend Freddie Mercury sent shockwaves through the movie business with over $473.5 million earned as of Nov. 28, in the box office worldwide. The movie gained a solid 62 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and 8.5 out of 10 on IMDb Malek’s vocals hit the nail right on the head as he portrayed Mercury’s powerful vocal range and his struggle with himself and sexuality.

The first idea of making a film about the band Queen started about 10 years ago when one of the members of Queen suggested that Sacha Baron Cohen play a possible part as Freddie Mercury, but upon further review of the actor and his idea for the film, Queen decided he was not the right fit. Freddie was of Indian descent, and to win the role, Malek submitted a video of himself impersonating Mercury.  

The director, Bryan Singer, famous for directing many popular movies such as X-Men, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and X-Men: Apocalypse, and Superman Returns, adds Bohemian Rhapsody to the list with a film that was action packed and emotion filled. This seems to be a common trend in Singer’s movies, such as in the X-Men series where there is always the death of a major character. Although Singer was later fired from directing the film due to frequent absences, he still claimed the role of director even after Dexter Fletcher took over towards the end of making the film. Singer incorporated the majority of the most famous songs from Queen into the movie.

“We are the Champions,” an iconic song, occurs in the movie during a Live Aid concert. This scene towards the end of the film had exemplary special effects as it displayed the millions of people in the audience singing along with Queen. This part of the movie was centered towards the end of Mercury’s life when his time of death wasn’t until six years later.

The movie focuses on the controversy about his sexuality, flamboyant behavior, drug addiction, and excess alcohol use as well as the creation of Queen. Bohemian Rhapsody was only rated PG-13 due to its crude language, implied sex scenes, and demonstrations of drug use. Fans of Queen have enjoyed the movie because of how it encompasses all aspects of his life and what made him such a unique artist.

Queen defined the 20th century rock and roll and set the stage for a the next generation of music with a variety of sounds and pitches, as seen in the famous song “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The movie captured the power and influence of Queen and will be one of the few great movies portraying one of the most famous bands in history.