The band Queen is a part of me. I have known them forever, as their hair and music pervaded my youth, pretty much from the womb.I’m sure it’s safe to say I’m not the only person who thinks this. Obviously, I had to see Bohemian Rhapsody. Even if the film wasn’t up to scratch, I knew the music would be worth hearing in super-surround-sound stereo.So we hotfooted it into Jericho for the 6pm showing on a Friday night. The revamp of the Phoenix Picturehouse meant that escaping from the bitter October wind was a joy – all plush red seats and a perfectly heated auditorium welcomed us and we settled in with the small early evening crowd, buzzing with anticipation.

The film is more of an overview of the coming together of the band, than a Freddie Mercury biopic. While I’ve seen a couple of reviews that appear to be disappointed in a lack of depth in potential issues it could have delved into, I would have to disagree with them, I’m afraid. I loved it. With an insight into how the band came into being, the development of their sound and a focus on Freddie himself, the film is certainly not a gritty “warts and all” docudrama by any means. It’s more a celebration of the band and an introduction to their music and flamboyant frontman for those who were not lucky enough to have grown up with them playing in the background.

The cast are marvellous with principals Gwylim Lee looking extraordinarily like Brian May, Ben Hardy (Peter Beale in Eastenders) as Roger Taylor and Joseph Mazzello (remember him – the little kid from the original Jurassic Park?!) playing bassist John Deacon with a permanently quirked eyebrow. But all plaudits have to go to Rami Malek for his outstanding performance as Freddie Mercury. With magnificent teeth and ‘tache he embodies the majesty of Mercury; his wide-eyed apprehension soon giving way to the strutting, peacocking misfit that was ever-present when Queen were at the height of fame.With fabulous support from Allen Leech, Aiden Gillen, Tom Hollander and a cheeky role for Mike Myers, previously (famously) seen headbanging to the eponymous hit in a car in Wayne’s World, Malek and the band are surrounded by talent.

The production is beautifully put together with creative involvement from May and Taylor themselves, gifting us a family-friendly film celebrating the band of misfits and their vivacious lead singer. By the end I could have believed I was experiencing Queen’s show-stealing set at Live Aid.