The story of the famous musician Michael Jackson, known as the King of Pop.
“Michael” follows the King of Pop – Michael Jackson (Jaafar Jackson) – from his days in the Jackson 5 until he releases the “Bad” album.
The late singer’s real-life nephew plays Jackson. This is his first acting debut, and I thought he did a splendid job. When he first appears, it does take a second to adjust to his voice and mannerisms, but you quickly get used to it. Jaafar also nails his uncle’s famous dance moves.
Joseph Jackson (Coleman Domingo) is Michael’s father and the manager of the Jacksons. He is domineering, condescending, and belittling. Domingo is just that good of an actor. I usually root for him in his previous work, but here he successfully gets the audience to hate Joseph. However, Domingo is wearing prosthetics, and since I know what his actual face looks like, I could not get used to this character’s look whenever he was on screen. I understand the need to maintain accurate appearances, but that is much less important for secondary characters.
Janet Jackson does not appear in this film at all, which I found to be extremely odd. I later discovered that she wanted no part of this film, so it made sense. But I feel like the general audience will ask that question too.
Does the film dig deeper than the surface level about Jackson’s life? The answer is no. It’s basically a highlight reel of the big moments in his career. The only real criticism of Jackson, the movie, is his childlike, regressive state, his love for toys and wild animals, since he never had a normal childhood.
Does this biopic offer anything new? The answer is also no. But the song performances are great. The music is the most important part to get right in any musician’s film. Many people were dancing in their seats. Seeing this in a packed theater with audience engagement is really what made me enjoy the film.
I knew as the film came to its conclusion that there was still a lot on the table. There is still a lot of Jackson’s life that they did not cover here. And they do tease a sequel.
I heard reports of the troubled production issues on this film, so I was pretty skeptical at first, but the main performances, music, choreography, and audience are really what made it. It’s in line with all other famous musician biopics; the formula is the same. However, I do hope the second film dives deeper into the singer’s life, including his controversies.
In Theaters Friday, April 24th
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