In my youth I often dreamt of being in a band, you know one of those big ones that play enormous stadiums. Well as this film opens, following a rather iconic rock and roll rendition of the 20thCentury Fox fanfare, we trail our main character, the star in shinning studded armband, he who beholds a moustache so eloquently grown unto him, his majesty, Freddie Mercury. The biggest Queen of them all. Somebody To Love plays in the background, accompanied by radio commentary. All contributing to the spectacle. We follow him as he builds up his energy ready to face the crowd in, what is now known as, one of the best live performances ever: Live Aid. We, with Freddie, enter the stage, as though we are his back-up singer, his rock companion. And for a split moment the crowd are staring at us. We are the band. My childhood dream comes true. Cut to Heathrow Airport and we are packing luggage with Freddie five years prior.

I have always been a Queen of fan. When I was only little, I received the coveted Greatest Hits album for Christmas one year. As quick as I could, those songs were uploaded to my little, five hundred-megabyte, USB MP3 player. Wherever I went, Freddie came with me, singing into my ears about fat bottom girls, riding his bicycle and of course being Champions. This then followed with Greatest Hits II and III that I eagerly bought with my Christmas money. Much like this music, filling my ears at a young age, bringing joy to my life, this film was the epitome of theatre. It was a display of extravagance. An absolute ball! I imagine that the way we feel watching this film, is the way one would feel partying with Freddie himself.

I went to see this film twice and the second time round I went with my mother. The greatest success of this film is its ability to bring together young and old. Not only that but bring together the audience in a darkened theatre, when such environments would otherwise feel lonely. Now I was born not long before the turn of the Millennia and so was never so lucky enough to grace this earth at the same time as Mr Mercury. I knew the music and the story (although, probably not as well as I should have). My mother when she was younger watched the famed Live Aid performance on her television. She claims it is the only performance she remembers from the whole festival. She often turned to me in the cinema to exclaim “I remember that”. It is very rare that I feel a sense of community in a dark cinema, but this film certainly bucked that trend. WE were all laughing together, experiencing this journey together. Humming and singing under our breaths together. The experience was compelling and witty.

There have been many discrepancies with the accuracy in this film, and the overall message it conveys. Although I don’t believe a storyline had to be a little fabricated to build more tension and have a satisfying conclusion, this appears to have been done anyway. Never the less, it did not distract from the show. Rami Malek is phenomenal as Freddie and the rest of the cast are positively identical to their counter-parts. The foursome have as much fun on the screen as we do watching them. The whole flamboyance of the film, with its swooping, wacky title art and montages, reflects the creativity of such a great band. It is a little confused as to what genre it is meant to be and it experiments with different styles at different stages, but you know what? It works! It works because that what Queen was. They didn’t follow any rules and they experimented. Queen changed Rock and Roll.

The build up at the start to the Live Aid performance made it clear the goal we were working towards. After all the struggle and hardships and general bickering between the band, that was the objective. As I watched I half expected the film to end precipitously right up until they are about to perform. I was waiting and waiting for the screen to turn black and to see titles scroll up. But boy was I pleasantly surprised. We were treated with a small ensemble of a selection of the songs perfectly performed. As though it was matched image to image. I have watched that famous Live Aid performance numerous times and it was a delight to see it recreated. But why does it feel so immeasurably exciting? This film recreates the energy that those four men brought to the stage. It demonstrates the power and influence that band had on so many lives. It recreates the liveliness for those older in the audience who lived with them and it recreates the joy for those who were never lucky enough to live in the same world as them. Bohemian Rhapsody is by no means a perfect film, but it is quirky and fun and enjoyable. You can sing along and laugh with it. But more importantly you can feel what it felt like to be there on the 13thof July 1985.