Movie Review: Michael

By John Corrado

Amidst the modern biopic boom, the Michael Jackson biopic has finally arrived.

Directed by Antoine Fuqua (The Equalizer trilogy, Training Day), and starring the late King of Pop’s real life nephew Jaafar Jackson, who is uncanny as his uncle, Michael is about the rise of Michael Jackson, and really only the rise.

The film finally comes to theatres following a beleaguered production, that saw it get cut down from a much longer movie due to them not being legally allowed to depict elements of the court case. This led to scenes being reshot and the film split into two parts, with the second part only set to be released if this one is a big enough hit. And, rest assured, it will be a hit.

Fuqua’s Michael mainly works as a music-driven crowdpleaser. This isn’t a gritty, unvarnished look at Jackson’s life, but rather an excuse to turn the first half of his career into what is essentially a glitzy, estate-approved jukebox musical, with all the hits that come with it. Whether or not you think it works will all depend on what you want out of the film.

The film chronologically takes us from 1963 to 1988. We open with young Michael growing up as a poor kid in Gary, Indiana, performing as part of the Jackson 5 with his four older brothers, under the iron fist of their father Joseph Jackson (Colman Domingo). Juliano Krue Valdi is a standout as young Michael, showcasing his unique voice and dance moves right from the start.

Domingo does strong work as the abusive father, portraying him as a chilling figure who intimidates and looms large over Michael even into adulthood. Nia Long is also a steady presence in the film as Michael’s mother Katherine, who is unable to stop his father’s abuse but provides steadfast, loving support for her son.

This is the “greatest hits” version of Michael Jackson’s early career, moving at a breakneck pace through all of it. The film skips some elements, but hits the big moments as Michael’s solo career takes off with the release of his massive albums Off the Wall and Thriller, and he tries to finally escape the control of his father.

This allows Fuqua to recreate performances, and, well, play the hits, including an extended scene showing the production of the iconic music video for Thriller (complete with a cameo from an actor playing director Jon Landis). The main draw of Michael is getting to watch Jaafar Jackson channel his uncle as he glides across the stage and screen, tearing through hit tracks like “Beat It,” “Billie Jean” and, finally, “Bad.”

Jackson is able to handle the impersonation aspects of the performance seamlessly, but also the dramatic scenes, which helps ground the story. The film also shows Michael developing a close bond with his bodyguard Bill Bray (KeiLyn Durrel Jones), who becomes like a surrogate father, as well as meeting lawyer and manager John Branca (Miles Teller).

The narrative does follow a lot of the typical biopic beats, including many scenes of Michael being told how unique his voice is and how there’s nobody else like him, and this is obviously a sanitized version of his life. If Jaafar Jackson hints at the fascinating layers of his uncle, the screenplay by John Logan doesn’t really go that deep into the darker parts of his psyche, aside from showing him as a man-child suffering repression from his controlling father. There is some foreshadowing that does lead to some uncomfortable questions of how they will inevitably handle the allegations against him in Part Two.

You can easily nitpick aspects of Michael in terms of what it chooses to show and the relative glossiness of how it’s all presented. But, as a piece of entertainment, it’s safe to assume that any fans of Jackson’s music who buy a ticket will be satisfied by the experience. At a certain point, Fuqua fully leans in to the Bohemian Rhapsody approach where the film’s main selling point, and the reason why it’s being sold as a big screen theatrical experience, are the concert scenes.

If you’re looking for the darker Michael Jackson story, Fuqua’s film will likely frustrate and disappoint. But, taken on its own terms as a glossy, greatest hits biopic, Michael is pretty entertaining. When the music hits, the film delivers, and it ends on a genuine high note. The final few minutes of this movie are when it truly soars. This is just the rise of Michael Jackson, the brunt of the controversy left on the cutting room floor or for the next movie. But this might be how the fans, who this movie is clearly for, choose to remember him anyway.