Sexuality/Nudity No Objection
Violence Acceptable
Vulgarity Acceptable
Anti-Catholic Philosophy Acceptable
As a child of the '80's, I can tell you that Michael captures the magic and mystique that was Michael Jackson in his prime.
The movie tells the story of the pop icon from his beginnings as the child lead singer of the Jackson 5. The patriarch of the family, Joe Jackson (Coleman Domingo) is a beaten-down steel worker in Gary, Indiana. He has decided that his ticket out his dead end life is to make his children into a hit band. Young Michael (Juliano Valdi) is full of life and optimism and exudes charisma. But if he does not follow his domineering father, he is met with physical consequences. As he grows up, adult Michael (Jafar Jackson) grows up popular but alone, with his mother Katherine (Nia Long), his only real companion. But as he finds his artistic voice, he yearns to break free from his father and find his destiny as one of the greatest, if not THE greatest pop star of all time.
It is important to understand that this movie is basically a hagiography of Michael Jackson: the main character is a saintly, soulful artist where all the bad things in his life are brought to him from without. As a character, Michael has very few flaws of character. Everything in this movie is meant to portray him in a positive light. If you go in expecting a film to explore his dark side, this isn't for you. Personally, regardless of whether or not it is historically accurate, it was a bit refreshing. A number of musical biopics that I've seen lately (e.g. A Complete Unknown or Deliver Me From Nowhere) depict the musician as a jerk with questionable morals, but we are supposed to waive those away as the eccentricities of artistic genius. Not so with Michael. It is was a relief to be able to sympathize with the main character for a change.
Director Antoine Fuqua does a great job of bringing Jackson to life. The most important thing was to capture the feeling of what it was like to experience Michael's talent. There is a scene in the movie when they are filming the video for "Thriller," where Michael gives a note to the director about how best to shoot the dancing in order to capture choreography. It is a moment to show how Michael is not only a student of his art, but is in control of how he presents himself. But the moment also reminds us that there is an art to filming music on camera, which Fuqua does incredibly well. I would not have thought that a director whose resume is mostly action films like The Equalizer series and The Magnificent Seven remake would have such a knack for this type of film. But Fuqua is able to make every Michael Jackson song come alive. Without shame, my feet were tapping to the beat of hit after hit being played out on the screen.
While this movie nails the spectacle of the singer, the movie would not be good unless it also gave us insight into the character. For me, this is what gives the movie its strength. Writer John Logan depicts the violence and tyranny of Joe Jackson as the root of Michael's problem. Because Joe forced his son to torturous rehearsals to prefect his performance, Michael missed out on his childhood. As a result, he had a permanent arrested development. He never grew up. This is seen in his perpetual affinity for Peter Pan and Neverland, where he is Peter and Joe is Captain Hook.
For me, the most important and moving scene in the movie is a small one. The adult Michael just went on a small shopping spree at a toy store. He comes home to see his brothers playing basketball. Michael announces to them with excitement that he has Twister and that they can all play that night. But his brothers look at him incredulous and say that they all of more adult things to do, leaving Michael dissapointed. They aren't mean or bullying in any way. But they grew up when Michael couldn't. He's stuck as a child, trying to find joy in child-like things. But in that way he is so incredibly lonely. But he turns that loneliness into artistic passion. We see how he finds his musical inspiration and how he develops hit after hit.
The script also does something so incredibly interesting with the character of Joe. To be sure he is a selfish tyrant. But that doesn't mean that he doesn't know his son. Both of these aspects are at play. In one scene, Joe says to Michael that if he leaves his family then he would be surrounded by "yes men" who will only do what he says and that this would destroy him. This is heartbreaking, because we know that in the end that is what happens. In another part of the movie after Michael is injured, Joe asks the doctor how soon until he can perform. When the doctor is appalled by this question, Joe says that the only thing that will save Michael is getting back on stage. The thing is, Joe is right, but that doesn't change the fact that he uses that insight for predatory reasons.
Because of this music becomes Michael's salvation and damnation at the same time.
The performances are excellent, especially Domingo. He captures the look of Joe, but also that constant bullying stare. Even in his smile, even when he is affectionate, he is Mr. Hyde ready to attack. But Domingo lets you feel his weariness and frustration, even as you feel him as a tyrant. Long does a good job as Katherine, especially as she finds her voice to stand up to Joe. Valdi is just as charismatic as young Michael. But Jafar Jackson had the unenviable job of trying to channel one of the greatest performers in history. And in terms of the singing and dancing, he nails it. For those who didn't live through Michael's Motown performance or seeing his music videos for the first time, Jafar gives us the closest thing we could get to reliving it. Outside of the musical numbers, his performance is also good. Michael Jackson was unique that any performance of him will always feel a bit more like an impersonation than performing a character. That isn't Jafar's fault. If you break from any of Michael's mannerisms, the movie would ring false. But if you know that the actor isn't Michael, there is always a part that rings a little false. This becomes less of a problem as the movie goes on and you accept Jafar's interpretation. By the end, there is a shot of Jafar looking at the camera and I could have sworn that it was a shot of Michael himself.
A difficulty with the movie is that outside of Michael and Joe (and a little bit of Katherine), all of the other characters get no depth. We never get a sense of how Michael's brothers feel about his fame or his success. Janet Jackson is completely absent from the movie. To be fair, the movie is not called The Jacksons. It is called Michael because the entire narrative is about him.
The movie reminded me why godly parents are so important. We know that Michael's life eventually ends in tragedy, and we can see that he is set on that path because Joe sees his children as means to an end rather than the end itself. Towards the end of the movie Katherine apologizes to Michael for not protecting him as a child. You can't help but feel that without Joe's punishing presence, Michael might not have been the world's biggest star, but he might have had a chance to live a normal, happy life.
After the movie, I found myself spending time on YouTube going through Michael Jackson's music catalague. Michael has given me a renewed appreciation for the man and the music.
And it is a reminder why there will never be another Michael Jackson.
