It’s one of the most anticipated movie releases of the year. And I was lucky enough to see Michael the evening ahead of it’s release into Australian cinemas. Immediately thereafter I was inundated with people asking me what I think.
My answer? It’s complicated. Much like the legacy of Michael Jackson himself.
I grew up with Michael Jackson’s music. And I remember the astonishment I felt watching his ground-breaking videos which, in the film, Michael (portrayed in adulthood by his nephew Jafaar Jackson, son of Jackson 5’s Jermaine) more accurately calls “short films”. The music may be tainted by the accusations that the late singer faced in the years since, but those songs retain their enduring appeal and catchiness. And those dance moves? They still impress. Having a bop along in your seat during the 127 minute long film is something you’ll be hard-pressed to stop yourself from doing.
Jafaar does an amazing job at capturing that complicated choreography along with the blistering stage presence. And I really enjoyed this about the movie.
But if you are going in to learn more about the man behind the myth, the relationships he had with his family or the life that he lived post-1988 (where the film inexplicably ends) then you’re going to leave pretty disappointed.
Sure, this film is a celebration of Michael’s music and his astonishing success. But, outside of the controlling relationship he had at the hands of his father Joe (played with menace by Colman Domingo) and the loving one he had with his mother Katherine (Nia Long), you gain no real insight into the bonds that Michael had with the rest of his family. Nor those of the few friends he did have.
Outside of singing along with him on stage, his brothers have no real lines of dialogue. What was it like for them to have Michael take the spotlight as the Jackson 5 took over the world? How did they feel about the dynamics that arose when he pursued a solo career? There are multiple reports that there were huge tensions on the 1984 Victory Tour. Why wasn’t that shown on screen?
And while we briefly got to meet a very sympathetic LaToya Jackson (played by Amaya Mendoza, then Jessica Sula), where was Janet? A frantic Google search after the film ended told me that she’d declined to participate in the project, which included having her likeness portrayed. The rest of the family? They mostly got on board.
And this, I feel, is where the movie fell down. With so many Jacksons serving as executive producers and exerting other varying degrees of creative control, we were never going to get a truly deep look at the man behind the myth and the parts of his life that weren’t triumphant. There’s too much to protect for them. No wonder that as a result, Michael is more a celebratory concert than an examination into the man himself and what made him, warts and all. And that, in my eyes, is not only a missed trick but a real shame for fans – lapsed or otherwise.
Michael is in cinemas now.
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