i thought the film was pretty good, but some of that is probably from how good it sounded in imax. jaafar was really good at nailing michaels idiosyncrasies and that sort of soft inquisitiveness. it does feel like a montage where scenes are just very disconnected. like youre going through someones life and not really too invested in the underlying plot elements. it keeps the central theme of joe as the antagonist, and the film serves as this battle that michael ultimately wins through liberation. the script is kind of cartoonish at times because of this, but its fine. its not trying to be deeper than it is. in fact, based on what michael and other books have said, i almost feel like joes depiction is somewhat charitable given just how much of a prick he was. on the flip side, i think people saying michael isnt humanized because he doesnt present as flawed are likely not equally applying that to other films. i think hes humanized well enough with the moments he spends contrasted between his mother and father, and then again with bill. again, its not a masterpiece, but its solid. i think if the film went as actually planned, it would be only marginally better than it is.
the fact is, in the allotted time, you will never get too much out of something like this due to the sheer amount of years covered for a real person. it would need to be a miniseries with a season per era to truly capture that. the lack of rebbie and janet was really jarring, and some of the inaccuracies were a bit... weird, but nothing too distracting. its not like everyone is a hardcore mj fan thats going to give a shit after all.
john branca... lol. hes painted in such a way that hes one of michaels close confidants, hes "his guy," which, yes it could all be accurately depicted, but i find it suspect given he has the ultimate say as the estate. i mean, if branca really was team michael to that degree, it would only make his later decisions that much more baffling. i can say i liked the branca character in the film independent of that though. and it reiterates a problem that, while its nice, it does jump too quickly between years before you can see much happening. theres no conflict or development outside the overarching joe plot. i think thats overall fine, and the way michael is shown would be a way he approves and would like.
everyone seemed to love it though, there was a lot of positive energy well around for michael. people loved my billie jean outfit and i got a ton of compliments. overall the experience was great and you come out wanting to dance. everyone ive talked to about it irl hasnt had anything negative to say. i hope that part 2 includes childhood, because the huge neverland build up would really benefit from it. i did enjoy the childlike nature they emphasized for mj too, it was innocent and i think a good representation. i really liked the twister scene, and like, yeah i can see myself in that situation
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