Michael review

Two things work in this film. First: Jaafar Jackson. The kid is phenomenal. His dancing, his physicality, his embodiment of his uncle is genuinely uncanny. LaToya said watching him felt like watching Mike, and I understand that completely. He deserves recognition for this performance, even if the movie around him doesn’t deserve him. Second: the music. It’s Michael Jackson. That’s never going to be a problem.

But there are a ton of problems with this.

This is a greatest hits playlist with no liner notes, no insight, no interior life. You watch a character move through the events of Michael Jackson’s life without ever understanding why he’s doing any of it. The controlling father is the film’s one and only explanation for everything. That’s where the analysis begins and ends. The script reads like it was generated by an AI prompted to write a Michael Jackson biopic in the most generic, inoffensive way possible. Every single line. Janet Jackson chose not to participate, and the film simply erased her from existence. Not reduced her, erased her. The closest sibling he had, a star in her own right with a decades-long television and music career, and she just doesn’t exist in this story. I understand she declined to be depicted. I don’t understand why that decision led to her complete removal from a story she was demonstrably part of. The family is running this production, and apparently that gave her sufficient say over her own exclusion, which is extraordinary.

The brothers are essentially props. They’re supportive of Michael. That’s the extent of their characterization. The estate’s fingerprints are all over this thing.

Michael has no relationships here. No romantic life, no real friendships with any chemistry, no real bonds with anyone outside his family, and even those bonds are surface level. His relationship with his manager, his driver, his bodyguard, presented as meaningful but never actually felt. Nobody in this film seems to know him. That disconnect reminded me of Bohemian Rhapsody, but that film at least had chemistry and some genuine feeling underneath it. This has less. Considerably less.

The Pepsi burn sequence was graphic and uncomfortable, which is appropriate given how traumatic that event actually was. That’s one moment where the film earns its reality. The controversy surrounding children is essentially untouched, which is probably a function of the legal constraints this production was operating under more than any artistic choice. The film depicts him loving children, visiting hospitals, forming connections with kids. It cuts off around 1988, so much of the more controversial bits of his life are outside of the scope. Make of that what you will.

This is a biopic built to protect a legacy rather than illuminate a human being. Those two goals are fundamentally incompatible, and this film is the proof.

Go watch this if you like Michael Jackson. Watch Jafar be great. He's the reason I'm giving this three stars. But then after that go watch Thriller. Go watch Smooth Criminal, Billie Jean, Beat It, Remember the Time. His own music videos were cinematic masterpieces. If he had been able to make a movie about his own life it would've been epic. If you wanna know Michael the superstar go watch the things that Michael made and the things that Michael did. They're all online now with easy access for everyone. That's gonna give you way more insight than this.