I just watched a two-hour behind the scenes music video of Michael Jackson’s early career! This may sound harsh, but that’s what this film really is…one long music video of awesome Michael Jackson music! Now it may seem like I’m complaining…let me be clear, I’m not because I love Michael Jackson…who doesn’t! His music is amazing and there’s no denying it, but as a film critic I must be blunt when it comes to movies. Michael is not some beloved bio of the King of Pop. It highlights the beginning of his career from the Jackson 5 to the height of his fame after making the Thriller album with fantastic music. This is a very unfinished story that highlights how he became a success as the King of Pop but doesn’t do a huge deep dive into who Michael Jackson really was. We get a few sprinkles and dashes of what made him tick and at the same time we get really wonderful performances from Jaafar Jackson who absolutely nailed it when portraying Michael right down to the dance moves. I don’t know if anybody else could have pulled that off. The film is also highlighted by another wonderful performance from Coleman Domingo who plays Joe Jackson, his father. However, two really great performances doesn’t make a great movie. Before we get into it, let me just say, I didn’t hate the movie, but I am going to be critical. Does that mean as a Michael Jackson fan you shouldn’t see the movie, of course not because the biggest character in the film is his music and just like a great concert video, you will sing and want to dance when you watch this movie.
We don’t get the full story of his life in a 2-hour movie. We get highlights and really only a few with the beginnings of the Jackson 5 to when they were signed by Motown and really became famous and moved to California. We get the beginnings of Michael Jackson’s solo career from the making of his first album to his masterpiece, Thriller. The film does a good job trying to explain the sensitivity of Michael Jackson and how he really was just a child at heart who grew up too fast. The film highlights his favorite story which is Peter Pan because he really was Peter Pan…the boy who wouldn’t grow up. The film does a good enough job making him as a sympathetic character with childlike innocence and living under the burdening thumb of his father. It’s easy to say that he had a screwed up childhood and it’s easy to portray Joe Jackson as a bit of a monster. Coleman Domingo does a fantastic job for portraying that side while at the same time making him a bit sympathetic because he pushed his kids to be great and they were. But this is what makes the movie we’re seeing. There are two main characters. There is Jaafar Jackson portraying Michael who is perfect. I can’t make that anymore clear, he was perfect as Michael Jackson. He sounded like him, and he moved like him. The other character as I said before is the music. And it’s the character of the music that really drives the overall story because the true legacy of Michale Jackson above all else is his music. Just like other great music bios such as Bohemian Rhapsody or Rocketman…it’s hard not to enjoy the music. This is a bit of a spoiler, sorry, but the last 15 minutes of the movie is basically a concert. I am not complaining because they did that with Bohemian Rhapsody when they redid Queen’s entire Live Aid performance at the end of the movie. To leave a movie theater still humming great music in your head makes for a very entertaining movie.
This is my biggest criticism. It’s an unfinished story and the movie doesn’t really dive into to all sides of Michael Jackson. I know what you’re going to say, “Marcus, that’s what the next movie is all about.” Sure, I will give you that argument, But there was so much more to Michael Jackson than just the awesome music he made between 1978 and 1988. Yes we get to see when his hair caught on fire. We get to see how he figured out all the dance moves that would become Beat It. My favorite scene of the film is where he’s bringing Crips and Bloods together to help create the dance moves. movie only briefly touches on him growing up and then finally breaking free of his father. This is where a limited series on a streaming channel would tell the story better. In fact, there was a Made-for-TV movie that came out in 1992 that I think did a better job of telling the story because they have more time.
If you’re a Michael Jackson fan you’re going to enjoy this movie for what it is, a highlight of great music and a wonderful performance by Jaafar Jackson. For me as a critic, it seems more like a fan film highlighting the greatness of Michael Jackson backed up by wonderful music. Not much substance there! When the sequel comes out and highlights the controversies and put both of those movies together and view it as one big movie that I think it will make this first part better. But what I really take away from this film is Michael Jackson’s music is the true legacy and is enduring through multiple generations. The screening I was at had a lot of grandparents, parents, and kids…generations who grew up with the Jackson 5, other generations who grew up with Michael and his solo career, and the kids who have clearly been introduced to Michael’s music and understand why he is the true king of pop. However, to make a great film about an artist then you have to dive into their dark side and that’s where this movie really fails. Other music biopics have done better jobs getting to the dark side of musicians. While I hope they do that with the second film, the filmmakers can’t just make a Michael Jackson fan film and expect it to be great. Now, I will also say that Jaafar Jackson absolutely deserves an Oscar nomination for his performance as Michael…he is the true star of this movie.
