I thought it was great as well. Rami Malek was awesome as Freddie - it’s a hard thing to pull off with a guy that well known, but I forgot a couple times that it was Malek. The guy who played John Deacon absolutely nailed it, from the facial expressions to the sarcastic comments to the fact that he was easy to overlook in the movie.
I’ve seen a few complaints that some of the songs were out of order - as much as I am a stickler about that stuff, it didn’t bother me because this isn’t a documentary. Let’s face it - this stuff was primarily 40 years ago, and in the story they were trying to tell, it wasn’t important that “Fat Bottomed Girls” came after “We Will Rock You”, they were trying to build up to WWRY being a thank you to the fans. Showing FBG after that would have been anti-climatic, plus it wouldn’t have played as well with the lead-in to the era when Queen was somewhat down (if not as inactive as portrayed). Same thing with the AIDS reveal - it happened some time after Live Aid, but it wouldn’t have worked as well to have that story after the Live Aid scene.
It reminds me of one of my favorite (stolen) lines, and one that my wife reminds me of whenever I object to something in a movie or TV show. I’ll say, “Why on earth would character X do that?” And she’ll say, “Because that’s what the writer told them to do.”
The thing that actually bugged me more about this film is the idea that they “glossed over” Freddie’s background (they didn’t) or his sexuality (again, they didn’t). The information was there, it just wasn’t drilled into your skull. There’s a difference between ignoring a story point and not making it the focal point.
I’m not sure if my daughter has seen it, but I told her I’d absolutely go again if it’s still in theaters next time we’re together. This will be a no-brainer Blu-Ray purchase for me. FYI - rumor is they filmed a full recreation of the Live Aid performance and it will all be on the home video release. That’s cool, and I’ll enjoy it, but I saw the real thing on TV that day, and I’ve got it on DVD and BD.
