There is a very interesting dialogue in the middle of Bohemian Rhapsody, biography about ... well, I don't know what to call it, whether the biography of the legendary Queen band or the biography of its more legendary frontman, Freddie Mercury. When a music producer, Ray Foster (Mike Myers) protested the song by calling it "weird", "prolonged" and advised Queen to change it so that "according to the formula", Freddie (Rami Malek) commented, "Formula is just a waste time."
If only this film heard Freddie's advice.
****Bohemian Rhapsody****
134 minutes
Teenagers - BO
Bryan Singer
Anthony McCarten
Graham King, Jim Beach
Newton Thomas Sigel
John Ottman
You certainly know the song "Bohemian Rhapsody" isn't it? The song that lasts up to 6 minutes which is arguably the masterpiece of Queen is truly opposed to the standard formula of mainstream songs. How about it, the lyrics are clear, contain words without contexts such as "Galileo" or "Bismillah", and the composition is odd, a kind of combination between hard rock and opera. Ironically, the Bohemian Rhapsody film itself is a standard biography. Very standard, until I won't blame you if you think that the material of this film is solely sourced from the Wikipedia page.
This film only does checks on what we already know about Queen and Freddie Mercury. And for that too, he still uses a formula that is commonly used by various musical biopic films. You know what formulas I mean. I think this film assumes that we know right away that Queen and Freddie are legend, because Bohemian Rhapsody does not tell or show their legend (forgive this vocabulary) at all.
For starters, since the beginning Queen has been as good as the Queen we know. The band's birth and trip were so smooth that they became a global sensation. When two musicians, guitarist Brian May (Gwilym Lee) and drummer Roger Taylor (Ben Hardy) got word that their vocalist had resigned as soon as they appeared on a small stage, Freddie came to submit a replacement. Soon, joined bassist John Deacon (Joseph Mazello). And before you finish saying "crazy, really excited about this band," Queen has a manager, album and international tour. I know it's an international tour, because there is a montage of Freddie's poses decorated with city names like New York, Rio, Canada, Tokyo, etc.
The narrative tendency of Bohemian Rhapsody is to act as fanservice, combing all trivial things that fans want to hear / see again. For example, about how Freddie was born in Zanzibar and has the real name Farrokh Bulsara. Or from where the microphone of the pole was dislodged. Or about eccentric fashion tastes. Likewise with the process of creating Queen songs. Do you want to know how much Freddie needs the word "Galileo" on the song "Bohemian Rhapsody"? Or where did the sexy bass riff come from on "Another One Bites the Dust"?
I think, on paper this film has included enough material needed. But the way to tell makes this film feel superficial. Instead of providing organic narratives, the film is like trying to include as many stories as possible. Right, we see all that we might need to see in a Queen / Freddie biopic, both about music, personal life, and scandals, but we don't feel the authenticity. The creative process behind the creation of songs, though interesting, is served corny. It is obvious that the timeline jumps up and down.
I know films that embrace a long life story do need to do that, but it's not a good thing when viewers are aware of this when watching. Even an attempt to deflect historical facts (Freddie was said to admit he had AIDS just before the Live Aid concert in 1985, even though it happened several years later) was unable to reach the intended catharsis point. I have no problem with deflecting history in film. I just can't stand the film that has acted so far it still feels boring.
Does this have anything to do with the direct involvement of Brian May, Roger Taylor, and Queen's manager, Jim Beach in this film? Maybe so. They definitely don't want their band to be in the negative spotlight. There are some, of course, about Freddie's homosexuality, but he avoids the complexity of going deeper. Queen's road manager, Paul Prenter (Allen Hutton) is conditioned to become a common enemy who dropped Freddie into the world of Hedon. On the other hand, their involvement also guarantees the quality of music in the film Bohemian Rhapsody, which is something that I really appreciate.
The film opens with the scene when Freddie rides the Live Aid stage and closes with a spectacular appearance by Queen on the stage which also features U2, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Elton John, Bob Dylan, Madonna, Eric Clapton, and dozens of other international top artists. And in movies, this also looks spectacular. Reportedly this scene was highlighted first before director Bryan Singer was fired and replaced by Dexter Flecther. Singer was able to present the concert re-record and capture the energy at Wembley Stadium, almost exactly the same as the original. You can't shiver. If it's not goose bumps, perhaps you are an alien from Mars disguised on earth.
Of course Rami Malek might not sing like Freddie. Well in fact, no one can sing like Freddie. However, Malek looked quite convincing to appear as Freddie as he could on the stage. At least, one KW. I didn't expect Malek to be quiet in the series Mr Robot could play Freddie Mercury who was fond of belingsatan. We can also peek at a bit of sensitivity that Malek might have presented to Freddie, as when his affair with Mary (Lucy Boynton) reached a nadir, but the film didn't give Malek much room for that.
Sometimes I don't know what the Bohemian Rhapsody movie is for. This film doesn't reveal much about Freddie, and strangely, he also doesn't reveal much about Queen. Three other personnel were impressed just like the background in Freddie's life. But the final scene made me realize; maybe this film is just to remind us of the legacy Queen and her legendary songs, not to provide insightful and urgent insight into one of the greatest rock bands of all time. But Queen actually doesn't need that. We know them and the songs (if you don't, let's just open your cover, aliens from Mars!). They are legendary, and deserve to get a film that is more than just "according to the formula".