Just a week before the Nov. 2 release of the Freddie Mercury and Queen biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody,” 20th Century Fox has released a final trailer for the film. This one is even more Mercury-focused than the previous ones, providing previously un-aired looks at scenes between the singer and his family, his girlfriend, the band, the press — asking directly about his sexuality — music industry executives and, of course, more of the captivating recreations of Queen in concert.
Reviews of the film — including this one by Variety’s Owen Gleiberman — have generally said that Rami Malek as Mercury is spectacular while the film itself is an unambitiously conventional biopic that plays loose with historical accuracy and downplays or oversimplifies many of the complexities of the singer’s life. Still, the excitement of seeing almost-Queen in such a setting will probably outweigh any concerns for most fans.
“Malek takes on the role of Freddie Mercury as if born to it,” Gleiberman writes. “Swarthy and insinuating, if neither as tall nor as serpentine as Mercury, Malek … winds up looking, and inhabiting, the part to a remarkable degree. Watching ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ we always feel like that we’re seeing Freddie Mercury standing right in front of us.”
“Bohemian Rhapsody” also stars Gwilym Lee as Brian May, Ben Hardy as Roger Taylor, Joseph Mazzello as John Deacon, and Lucy Boynton as Mary Austin. The film opens wide following the World Premiere in London earlier this week.