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The Official 'Michael' Bio-Pic Thread

Depending on when they start filming part 2 they can still include a teenage Michael going through puberty using Juliano, who has just turned 12. It’s important they add a bit more depth for the second film, especially if the allegations are included, and showing Michael between 1972 and 1977 is an important timeframe
 
Luiz Fernando
@Luiz_Fernando_J
·
4h

But the icing on the cake came from the UK, where the KING OF POP #MichaelJackson’s music biopic #MICHAEL starring #JaafarJackson is officially beating #BohemianRhapsody’s historic opening record, after grossing a STRONG $4.4M on SAT, up +29.4% from FRI at the British #BoxOffice.It hits a $11.9M 4-day cume.Eyeing a $14M-$15M 5-day opening weekend in the U.K. alone., beating #BohemianRhapsody’s $12.5M as the BIGGEST Opening Ever for a music biopic in the U.K.Only under #Oppenheimer’s $16.6M as #2 BIGGEST opening ever for a biopic in British shores.


Luiz Fernando
@Luiz_Fernando_J
·
4h


KING OF POP #MichaelJackson EXPLODING all over Europe on SATwith music biopic #MICHAEL thanks to INSANE WOM!In #Italy’s #BoxOffice, the biopic added SPECTACULAR $2.3M on SAT, up +66% from $1.5M FRI, reaching $5.9M 4-day cume with 608k admissions.Eyeing a $7.5M-$8.5M 5-day opening in #Italy alone, an all time record for biopics, what would beat #Oppenheimer’s $7.4M & #BohemianRhapsody’s $6.1M historic debuts.
 
Galactus123 said:
Bad Tour L.A. Michael wearing that TWYMMF shirt on Dangerous Tour stage performing Rock With You. :D
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9 year old Michael wearing blue t shirt performing Never Can Say Goodbye before signing to Motown.

We’ve already seen in the first part that they take creative liberties like that. If it works in context, it works.
 
three complaints bc I am a nitpicking demon: Why'd he say after Motown 25 that his "toes weren't aligned"? I think the Human Nature, Branca, and Beat It rehearsals were a bit long, more Michael depth could've been added with the extra minutes. Also, costume consistency during shows to irl, please!!
 
Puggy1234 said:
three complaints bc I am a nitpicking demon: Why'd he say after Motown 25 that his "toes weren't aligned"? I think the Human Nature, Branca, and Beat It rehearsals were a bit long, more Michael depth could've been added with the extra minutes. Also, costume consistency during shows to irl, please!!
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As someone else mentioned, he said "I should have stayed on my toes longer" and that line was a nod to MJ reacting to his Motown 25 performance and mentioning he was really unhappy with it afterwards because he had wanted to do 6 spins and then land on his toes and pause there, but it didn't work out that way as he didn't quite hit the balance right for the toe stand.
 
karom said:
As someone else mentioned, he said "I should have stayed on my toes longer" and that line was a nod to MJ reacting to his Motown 25 performance and mentioning he was really unhappy with it afterwards because he had wanted to do 6 spins and then land on his toes and pause there, but it didn't work out that way as he didn't quite hit the balance right for the toe stand.
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I know cuz he jumped into it but also am I tripping? I heard "My toes weren't aligned right"
 
AlwaysThere said:
It’s not though. Branca’s scenes are as follows:

- He is hired by MJ and immediately ordered to fire his father, which we know happened
- He sits at Hayvenhurst while MJ outlines his desire to release the best selling album of all time and make short films, which is more than plausible
- He sits in on a meeting with MJ and Walter Yetnikoff, which again is more than plausible
- He visits MJ in the hospital, which, again, likely

He’s barely in the movie, and he’s very clearly depicted as someone hired to do MJ’s bidding lol. I know people on this forum hate the guy (justifiably so in many cases), but his depiction is pretty accurate and tasteful.
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I wonder if his hospital visit really went down like it was shown.

But to the others: It's still a movie you know? You need characters who play a role in the plot. He does feel more like a manager at some points, but MJ is calling the shots.
 
Jackears said:
They showed Frank Di Leo with his cigar but nothing else. Since Branca helped with firing Joseph, they could have introduced Frank as a new manager somehow. Because it just looked like Branca did everything and was the only figure around Michael's new team.
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Nope they don’t show dileo it was a manager from cbs/sony
 
JEMFTV said:
I wonder if his hospital visit really went down like it was shown.

But to the others: It's still a movie you know? You need characters who play a role in the plot. He does feel more like a manager at some points, but MJ is calling the shots.
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I think Branca's character is well placed in this movie. Even though I would rather watch more scenes with Quincy Jones instead of Branca.
 
This is my review of the Movie and beware, it’s a bit long but I think I got my points across.



Michael review: The curse of the three-act structure

1: Opening Experience: Atmosphere

The atmosphere at the cinema was awesome. There were so many different people there, old, young, white, black, brown. Many were wearing MJ apparel. People were singing his songs both before and after the movie, and it just struck me how incredible Michael’s reach truly is. He really unites people all over the world. It was very heartwarming to see. People were singing, laughing, and crying during the movie, and I didn’t expect that kind of reaction.

2: What the film does well

A human side of Michael:

I have to say that I disagree very much with the notion that this movie didn’t humanize Michael. On the contrary, I think it did a great job showing why he was the way he was. His loneliness and isolation from being famous at such a young age, which led to him having pets as friends, was heartbreaking (although I think they overdid it with the animals). There is also something that was very understated but was there nonetheless, his tendency to avoid conflict. Although it was mainly a response to his father, it planted the seed that it stemmed from his childhood. It also did a good job of showing his altruism, visiting kids and giving them gifts and everything. The Pepsi and the hospital sequence was handled with care, and that was actually my favorite part of the movie.

Jaafar as Michael on and off stage:

Jaafar completely nailed it. He became Michael, and I really had to do a double take many times. Everything from his mannerism to his voice, it was pitch perfect. It wasn’t a parody. I bought into it more than I did when Jaafar actually performed. This may be because I’m so used to how MJ performs that when something isn’t 100 percent correct, it takes me out. But even then, his stage performances were great. They couldn’t truly have found someone better. At first, I was a bit skeptical of the inclusion of the Bad performance and how it would flow in the overall narrative, but man, I was completely immersed. That was a strong way of ending the movie.

Coleman Domingo as Joe

Coleman Domingo, what a performance! I was on the edge of my seat every time he was on screen. They had him moving like a Batman villain. As soon as a door closed, there he was, face covered in shadows, waiting lol. This was a powerful performance. The story made him a bit one dimensional (and let’s be honest, almost all supporting characters were one dimensional), but I think it worked.

Visuals and production design

For the most part, I thought that the art direction was great. The clothes were fantastic, very true to real life. I also thought the stage designs for the live shows were good. Some parts looked a bit fake with the CGI and what not, but that is to be expected. I kept thinking to myself, “Imagine seeing the Bad Tour in this quality with these angles” haha.




3: Where the film falls short

Underdeveloped portrayal of his musicianship:

I was very disappointed with this. I wasn’t expecting a detailed breakdown of how the songs came together, but I was expecting more of Michael’s musicianship as the author of his most beloved songs. I think Bohemian Rhapsody did a better job with this. We got short beatboxing and some lyrics, and that was it. It would have been so great to actually show him guiding the musicians in the studio. Imagine showing the creation of Billie Jean where MJ beatboxes the bass line, and then him stopping them and saying something like


“No, it needs to be more emphasis on the first bass note.
DUN dun dun dun dun, DUN dun dun dun. You got it?”

And then him briefly showing how to get the drum groove correct, saying:


“Yeah! yeah, that’s smelly!”

And then someone, preferably Quincy, asking how he remembers all the details, and then we get the famous lines:


“It’s all inside my head. Every string part, everything.”

I’m just thinking out loud, but I think this was a missed opportunity.




A story constrained by the Three-Act Structure/ Heroes Journey:

This is actually the main thesis of my review, the curse of the three act structure and the hero’s journey. I just don’t think it works for biopics. Because of this structure, they had to settle on an obstacle to doubt to failing to overcoming the obstacle. This became the breaking free from Joe and the family arc, and everything had to serve this direction. Every choice, cramming unnecessary parts together, became a victim of this. Important moment in his life, both personal and artistic, felt like transitions rather than fully realized experiences. This led to surface level exploration. Things happened to him, yes, but we didn’t see the psychological reaction to them except for surface reactions like the vitiligo, nose surgery (this was very heartbreaking though, a very touching scene). These things happened at the height of his career. Imagine being the biggest celebrity in the world, the most photographed person, relying on your appearance as part of your brand, and now a disease starts to change that. What’s going on inside? There must have been so much internal conflict. Now imagine another layer, you suffer third degree burns to your head and now have to wear wigs or hairpieces for the rest of your life. There’s so much internal conflict to explore, but unfortunately, they only touched the surface because they had to move on. Everything had to serve the three act structure of Michael breaking free from Joseph and the family. It just didn’t allow enough time for the narrative to breathe.

Overextended Jackson 5 section:

I never thought I’d say this but I think the Jackson 5 overstayed their welcome. This is just my arm chair director opinion, but they could have used much of the Jackson 5 material as quick flashbacks when something needed to be referenced instead of cramming it all together in the beginning. I understand how vital this part is for understanding him, but I felt it dragged a little too much. I do disagree with what some people have expressed here regarding the need to show Michael go through more harm by the hands of Joe. We don’t need to see a child get beaten repeatedly. The first time was enough and the other allusions to it were fine.



4: The inevitable fan nitpicks

Of course, as a fan, I have trivial complaints lol. There were too many inaccuracies, such as:


Michael wearing the striped pants for the final Victory Tour

Him not wearing a jacket during the beginning of WBSS

Working Day and Night replacing Shake Your Body Down in the farewell speech

Them singing Never Can Say Goodbye before being signed to Motown (wtf?)

John Branca.

Jafaar doing Dangerous Tour moves during Human Nature

This isn’t really a complaint, but did Jonathan Moffett play drums on the recreations? His playing style is so distinct and it felt a bit different in certain parts. I could be wrong, but that’s how it felt to me.

All in all, I may have been slightly disappointed with this movie (I wasn’t really expecting the next Godfather), but I really did have a good time and I did enjoy it. People around me were laughing, crying, singing along during the movie and it was such a communal experience. It’s no secret that we as MJ fans have had some difficult years leading up to this, and it felt, and still feels, so great that we could come together and celebrate this thing for Michael, even if we didn’t love the movie.



Rating: 7.0/10
 
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Themidwestcowboy said:
I have to say that I disagree very much with the notion that this movie didn’t humanize Michael. On the contrary, I think it did a great job showing why he was the way he was. His loneliness and isolation from being famous at such a young age
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That’s just untrue. The film is way too expository. The producers did not follow the number one rule of storytelling: show, don’t tell. You don’t see his loneliness, his struggles with the media, or vitiligo. You just hear them talking about these things at very specific beats. The movie does this so you can’t say anything is not covered, while, in fact, nothing is truly covered.
 
alanram said:
That’s just untrue. The film is way too expository. The producers did not follow the number one rule of storytelling: show, don’t tell. You don’t see his loneliness, his struggles with the media, or vitiligo. You just hear them talking about these things at very specific beats. The movie does this so you can’t say anything is not covered, while, in fact, nothing is truly covered.
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I fail to see how this negates what I said? Telling instead of showing is still showing it just in a different way (btw I disagree with that statement). I stand by my claim that it did humanize him but I do agree that they could have done more (which I write about in the section of the curse of the three act structure)
 
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