KingofPop125
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I’m a huge Michael Jackson fan, aswell as my mother, uncle and late grandmother. I went with my mom to go see the biopic at our local IMAX theater. I had already seen the scathing reaction from the critics and the glowing reaction from the fans, but I want to go into the movie with an open mind. Well I finished it and when we went back to the car, my mom and I had the same reaction: meh.
I’ve been concerned for the biopic ever since the news dropped that because the Estate’s incompetence/poor communication with the filmmakers, they cut out the 1993 allegations from the movie. And then Paris’ infamous Instagram story where she brought up that it was just going to be a safe and generic Hollywood biopic like what they did with Queen and Mötley Crüe. Before all of that, I was very excited for the biopic to finally tell the cinematic life that MJ experienced. And despite everything, I still wanted to be excited for the movie. Yet it ended up being a pretty big dissapointment for me. Everything that Paris said what this movie was going to be (and she just read the first more comprehensive draft) was 100% on the money.
Let’s get the good stuff out of the way first. Jaafar Jackson is as good as everyone says he is. He really does become Michael, aswell as Juliano Valdi as young Michael. Colman Domingo is the perfect Joseph, he embodies the character so well with a very intimidating prescence. The concert sequences are also a lot of fun, especially seeing them recreated in modern times. They really do showcase what a charismatic and emotional performer Michael was. The colors and costumes are all very vibrant and delightful to look at.
Now time for the bad stuff.
My biggest problem is that it just goes from one major event in Michael’s life and career to the next without letting those events sink in and really develop the characters. For example, we jump from 1971 to 1978, and I was like what the hell. There was SO MUCH that happened in between: the early solo work, the Jackson 5 not including Jermaine leaving Motown, rebranding as the Jacksons, becoming songwriters of their own, The Wiz, Michael’s puberty, all of it is just nowhere to be seen. That’s unacceptable.
Not to mention all the people that weren’t in the movie: No Diana Ross, Bobby Taylor, Frank DeLio (only a blink and you miss it cameo), Rebbie, Randy, Janet, they are all gone. And the characters they do have are just scene props. The brothers and LaToya are practically nobodies. Katherine and Bill Bray have some moments, and John Branca unnecessarily inserted himself in others, but nothing that stands out. The only two characters that get anything close to an arc are Michael himself and Joseph.
This segues into another problem, and that is that there is not really an emotional or thematic core to the movie. The arc is really just Michael trying to break away from Joe’s influence which is a very weak arc if you ask me because it was only a small but pivotable part of Michael’s story. It didn’t define his life. The core should have been Michael being developmentally stunted and lonely. Now the reshoots definitely contributed to that, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is a problem. These things are only hinted at in the finished movie, and they go absolutely nowhere.
Finally, from a filmmaking perspective, the movie is very bland and lacks an artistic vision. From the opening credits alone I knew we were in trouble, with the most generic font and transition ever. And while I like the lighting and color grading, the actual cinematography was very standard with no variety in how its shot or how it frames the characters. The editing was also pretty by the books, and I even caught a glaring mistake during the Motown 25 performance. When Jaafar does the back-and-forth head turn before the moonwalk, the movie cuts to the audience. When it cuts back to Jaafar, he does it again and then moonwalks. That was such a sloppy edit that I was surprised it made it past post. I shouldn’t have expected more from Antoine Fuqoa, who only has one great movie under his belt (Training Day) and all the rest in his filmography range from okay to bad.
You might think I hate the movie like the critics do. Well I don’t. The critics were completely full of shit with whining about the allegations not being in it, despite the movie literally trying to and the possibility of a sequel. But when has the media been fair to Michael?
There was one silver lining. While my theater was not packed, it had a majority of the seats filled. And the audience was really getting into it. Laughing and even dancing to the music. Nothing too crazy, but you can tell they love Michael Jackson and love re-experiencing his great music and live/video performances again. So that is something that I am happy about, that people are falling in love with MJ all over again. In that regard, I want this movie to do well financially both for the community bonding over Michael and admittedly out of spite for the media.
That being said, I’m upset because Michael Jackson deserved better. He shouldn’t have a biopic that’s just alright, it should have been amazing. The world’s greatest entertainer deserved a movie (or preferably a miniseries) reflective of the fascinating, tragic, and groundbreaking life and career he had, and this movie does not deliver on that. The Estate just saw another marketing opportunity for Michael’s music and did the bare minimum making it so they can get an easy return on investment. Even by their standards (The Cirque du Soleil and Broadway shows were amazing), this was just a huge missed opportunity. The movie gets a 5/10 from me.
But what did you guys think? Whether you agree or disagree, be sure to let me know as I’m very interested in your opinions.
I’ve been concerned for the biopic ever since the news dropped that because the Estate’s incompetence/poor communication with the filmmakers, they cut out the 1993 allegations from the movie. And then Paris’ infamous Instagram story where she brought up that it was just going to be a safe and generic Hollywood biopic like what they did with Queen and Mötley Crüe. Before all of that, I was very excited for the biopic to finally tell the cinematic life that MJ experienced. And despite everything, I still wanted to be excited for the movie. Yet it ended up being a pretty big dissapointment for me. Everything that Paris said what this movie was going to be (and she just read the first more comprehensive draft) was 100% on the money.
Let’s get the good stuff out of the way first. Jaafar Jackson is as good as everyone says he is. He really does become Michael, aswell as Juliano Valdi as young Michael. Colman Domingo is the perfect Joseph, he embodies the character so well with a very intimidating prescence. The concert sequences are also a lot of fun, especially seeing them recreated in modern times. They really do showcase what a charismatic and emotional performer Michael was. The colors and costumes are all very vibrant and delightful to look at.
Now time for the bad stuff.
My biggest problem is that it just goes from one major event in Michael’s life and career to the next without letting those events sink in and really develop the characters. For example, we jump from 1971 to 1978, and I was like what the hell. There was SO MUCH that happened in between: the early solo work, the Jackson 5 not including Jermaine leaving Motown, rebranding as the Jacksons, becoming songwriters of their own, The Wiz, Michael’s puberty, all of it is just nowhere to be seen. That’s unacceptable.
Not to mention all the people that weren’t in the movie: No Diana Ross, Bobby Taylor, Frank DeLio (only a blink and you miss it cameo), Rebbie, Randy, Janet, they are all gone. And the characters they do have are just scene props. The brothers and LaToya are practically nobodies. Katherine and Bill Bray have some moments, and John Branca unnecessarily inserted himself in others, but nothing that stands out. The only two characters that get anything close to an arc are Michael himself and Joseph.
This segues into another problem, and that is that there is not really an emotional or thematic core to the movie. The arc is really just Michael trying to break away from Joe’s influence which is a very weak arc if you ask me because it was only a small but pivotable part of Michael’s story. It didn’t define his life. The core should have been Michael being developmentally stunted and lonely. Now the reshoots definitely contributed to that, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is a problem. These things are only hinted at in the finished movie, and they go absolutely nowhere.
Finally, from a filmmaking perspective, the movie is very bland and lacks an artistic vision. From the opening credits alone I knew we were in trouble, with the most generic font and transition ever. And while I like the lighting and color grading, the actual cinematography was very standard with no variety in how its shot or how it frames the characters. The editing was also pretty by the books, and I even caught a glaring mistake during the Motown 25 performance. When Jaafar does the back-and-forth head turn before the moonwalk, the movie cuts to the audience. When it cuts back to Jaafar, he does it again and then moonwalks. That was such a sloppy edit that I was surprised it made it past post. I shouldn’t have expected more from Antoine Fuqoa, who only has one great movie under his belt (Training Day) and all the rest in his filmography range from okay to bad.
You might think I hate the movie like the critics do. Well I don’t. The critics were completely full of shit with whining about the allegations not being in it, despite the movie literally trying to and the possibility of a sequel. But when has the media been fair to Michael?
There was one silver lining. While my theater was not packed, it had a majority of the seats filled. And the audience was really getting into it. Laughing and even dancing to the music. Nothing too crazy, but you can tell they love Michael Jackson and love re-experiencing his great music and live/video performances again. So that is something that I am happy about, that people are falling in love with MJ all over again. In that regard, I want this movie to do well financially both for the community bonding over Michael and admittedly out of spite for the media.
That being said, I’m upset because Michael Jackson deserved better. He shouldn’t have a biopic that’s just alright, it should have been amazing. The world’s greatest entertainer deserved a movie (or preferably a miniseries) reflective of the fascinating, tragic, and groundbreaking life and career he had, and this movie does not deliver on that. The Estate just saw another marketing opportunity for Michael’s music and did the bare minimum making it so they can get an easy return on investment. Even by their standards (The Cirque du Soleil and Broadway shows were amazing), this was just a huge missed opportunity. The movie gets a 5/10 from me.
But what did you guys think? Whether you agree or disagree, be sure to let me know as I’m very interested in your opinions.
