MICHAEL

Michael captures the infectious energy of Michael Jackson’s music and dancing during the spectacle music numbers, recreating the energy that captured the attention of the world, though the surface level screenplay that does not provide insight into the man behind the mirror and favours protecting the image of the Jackson family holds back this music biopic from reaching the greatness that Michael Jackson achieved during his career.

His music is legendary. Within the few opening notes of each song, his iconic riffs are instantly recognizable and send an electrifying energy through sound speakers, while his voice and mad dancing skills earned him the title the “King of Pop.” Putting the controversy of his life aside, there is no denying that Michael Jackson was one of the greatest artists of all time, rightfully deserving of his own music biopic to help preserve the legacy of his music and artistry for generations to come. After multiple reshoots, Michael Jackson’s story finally arrives on the big screen from director Antoine Fuqua in Michael, and there is no doubt the film is going to be a crowd pleaser as it closely follows the tried and proven blueprint for the music biopic. Though the music sequences are undeniably thrilling and capture the undisputed talents of Michael Jackson with great sound mixing, costuming and choreography, the screenplay creates a specifically tailored account of Michael Jackson’s early life, avoiding controversies and offering little of a look behind his already widely known public image, resulting in a biopic that plays it too safe to uphold an image of Michael Jackson and his family to deliver the biopic that Michael Jackson deserves.

By design, Michael intentionally avoids the controversial allegations that occurred later in his life, instead focusing on his rise to fame during the first thirty years of his life (and before some of his biggest hits such as “Smooth Criminal” and “Man in the Mirror” were released), bringing only part of his story to the big screen. Following the traditional blueprint of the music biopic genre, the film opens with a glimpse of Michael walking down the hallways towards the stage during his Bad World Tour at the 1988 performance of Wembley stadium, to no surprise echoing Bohemian Rhapsody given producer Graham King is also behind the Michael Jackson biopic, before jumping back to the beginning of Michael’s career in The Jackson 5 and chronologically telling his rise to fame as one of the best selling music artists of all time. It hits the most memorable moments of his career to where the film ends, such as the iconic “Thriller” music video and the tragic accident during the Pepsi commercial shoot, at the same time of showing the gentle soul that Michael was and his fascination with play and fantasy, helping to build the image of the child that never truly grew up. And given what Michael endured as a child, to anyone that knows his story or watches the film, this escape into childhood comfort will come as no surprise and helps to provide context to the controversies he faced later on in his life. While unavoidable given the legal obligations on the Jackson Estate, it does not help that the original third act for the film was forced to be scrapped. The result is a complete rewrite with a new conclusion to the film that fails to signify to the audience that the movie is wrapping up, as it is never clear the film has entered its final act, while also setting up a potential sequel to continue Jackson’s story should the box office gross be high enough for this film.

With the Jackson Estate heavily involved in the film, it is no surprise of the perspective the film takes on the Jackson family, specifically his father Joe Jackson. There is no question the film celebrates Michael’s legacy with a spectacle driven biopic, but while celebrating him, they are also protecting the Jackson family brand at the same time. The film does not shy away from the violent and intimidating behaviour of Joe Jackson early on in the film, showing an inherent fear from the entire Jackson family of Joe throughout the film as characters are constantly keeping doors open or carefully watching Joe while in a room alone with him. But it is all carefully shown early on in the film and when combined with a script that has Joe openly stating his love for his children, downplays his abusive behaviour and portrays him as a wheeling dealing businessman trying to maximize the family’s wealth through Michael’s career instead of at the expense of Michael. Two things can be true at once, and while the screenplay doesn’t dismiss what is known about Joe Jackson, it works hard to portray him in a more favourable light than is probably true about his actions to deliver what could be best described as an interpretation of the truth, but not the whole truth.

While the preservation of the Jackson family brand was to be expected, the most disappointing aspect of this biopic is that it offers no insight into Michael as a creative artist or the barriers he faced as a superstar African American artist during a time when he was not the image of the superstar that the world wanted. Very little is shown about his creative involvement in his music creation, apart from vision board moments and Michael working on the vocal riff to “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”, while the insight into his personality is as mysterious as he was to the public eye at the time. At the same time, the barriers Michael faced as an African American artist are quickly brushed by, most notably MTV’s refusal to play his music videos which is fixed with a simple phone call (though it is an incredibly fun moment in the film thanks to a great appearance by Mike Myers as CBS music executive Walter Yetnikoff). It’s hard to get a truly proper behind the cameras look at Jackson given his untimely death, but the biopic doesn’t add anything more to the superstar than what audiences already knew of him or the challenges faced by him in his career, instead diminishing this biopic to merely be a greatest hits montage rather than the more honest portrayal of the man behind the icon.

Given his iconic celebrity status, it comes as no surprise that the music sequences of Michael are the highlight of the film. With a bombastic sound mix that captures the thumping base track of his most iconic songs, there is a toe tapping energy that roars across the theatre sound system that alone demands the film to be seen in either a Dolby Atmos capable auditorium or IMAX. The costuming captures all of Michael’s unforgettable wardrobes, while the dance choreography is executed with precision by Jaafar Jackson and captures Michael’s unforgettable moves with the moonwalk and the unforgettable choreography to “Thriller”, injecting life into these moments in the film. Even with Jaafar lip-synching along to his uncle’s greatest hits, there in an undeniable electrifying energy that hits during the music sequences that sweeps viewers away and puts to rest the qualms about the rest of the production, confirming Michael’s status as one of the greatest entertainers to ever perform that culminates with a show-stopping performance of “Bad.”

Being a biopic, despite the spectacle driven music numbers, the film relies on the lead performances of Jaafar Jackson and Colman Domingo, and both of them are good. Jaafar captures the mannerisms and voice of his uncle with ease, creating a sympathetic portrayal of his uncle with an infectious tenderness that captures the child who never grew up and the heart behind Michael’s philanthropic endeavors towards sick children. Domingo brings a fear to the film as Joe Jackson, capturing the intimidation and power hungry nature of Michael’s father with the magnetic presence that Domingo brings to every role he tackles, even if you can’t help but despise the individual Colman portrays. But, the scene stealers of the film are KeiLyn Durrel Jones as Michael’s head of security Bill Bray, whose warmth lights up the screen and helps to create some of the most meaningful and sentimental moments of the entire film, and Juliano Valdi as young Michael Jackson, delivering a sensational big screen debut with a spirited performance that you can’t take your eyes off of.

There is no question that some audiences are going to fall in love with the spectacle of Michael, as the film does a great job of honouring his music legacy with excellently staged music numbers that captures the fire that made Michael Jackson a music icon. Though, with the film as a whole more focused on preserving the legacy and reputation of the Jackson Family than giving insight into the man in the mirror, Michael never reaches the sky high heights it reaches for. Propelled by a soundtrack of the greatest hits of The Jackson 5 and Michael Jackson’s early career which will no doubt rightfully create new fans of his music, Michael delivers a traditional music biopic of the beginnings of the iconic career of Michael Jackson with good performances from Jaafar Jackson and Colman Domingo, but a film that is also never is bold enough to embrace the barrier breaking attitude of Michael Jackson to become the biopic about him that the world deserves.