Michael
Rating: 4/5
By: Nathaniel Simpson
There has never been someone like Michael Jackson, and I seriously doubt there ever will be again. From his on-stage charisma, his charm, and the music that he crafted, Jackson took the world by storm, even causing fans to faint from just him being on stage. With the major influx of musical biopics over the last decade, it seemed almost inevitable that we would see someone portray Michael Jackson on the big screen. While it may contain the generic, overused plot devices as found in other musical biopics, Antoine Fuqua's Michael makes the entire world fall in love once again with the King of Pop, with an electrifying performance from Jaafar Jackson and a brilliant, sickening performance from Colman Domingo as the pop star's abusive father.
The film documents the formative years of Michael's life, showing how he started out as the lead singer of the Jackson 5 and then went on to pursue his own solo career against his father's wishes. Those who were expecting a full-blown story of Michael's life need to reign in their expectations with how much they cover here, with a second film already confirmed to finish out the story of Michael's life before his untimely death. We go through the highs and the lows, watching as his albums top the charts and how an incident filming a Pepsi commercial almost cost him his life. Through the entire film, Fuqua makes it a point for the audience to not forget that what Michael Jackson did was simply magical, and they made sure to capture the moments that close friends and family remember him by.
However, with that being said, there will be critics against this film. This picture stars the nephew of Jackson, and the family had a huge hand in bringing this picture to life. Therefore, allegations made against Jackson were not shown at all throughout this picture, especially since this is the start of his career and many of the allegations came after the creation of his humongous estate known as Neverland. But, there will be audiences saying that this movie feels very biased and one-sided, with the filmmakers and the family only wanting to highlight the good Michael did in this world and not show any of the bad. My response to that - I knew what I was going into. I knew how much involvement the Jacksons had with this film, and I allowed myself to have the film wash over me with this sense of wonderment and joy as we witness this brilliant music that Michael created. I personally didn't know much about his life before seeing this film, and the movie prompted me to start doing research on him and the life he lived. In my opinion, the film did its job exactly the way it was meant to. While I enjoyed Jackson's music for most of my life, this film easily made me a fan of the man behind the songs, and I can't see why this film would be deemed a failure in my eyes.
Sure, the movie itself does feature many of the same scenarios and conflicts that are present in other musical biopics. It doesn't feel unique in the sense of story and plot points, and I knew exactly where this movie was going to go. There are also moments in the film where they hinted on a big part of his life which I wish they dived a little deeper into, but like I mentioned, there's a second film coming and they have to save content for it. In the terms of the story, there is nothing unique or stands out, but it's the other elements here that really make this film pop.
The first, and perhaps the most important aspect of this film, is Jackson's performance as his late uncle. Jackson is simply perfect for this role, and it felt like the spirit of Michael himself came down and embodied this young actor during the filming. There were some moments that made gave me goosebumps in the sense of how he just captured his uncle perfectly. Consider the scene towards the end of the film where he turns around and smiles at his longtime bodyguard (and perhaps his only friend) Billy Bray (KeiLyn Durrel Jones); you cannot tell me that wasn't Michael himself in that scene. I was a little worried at first when hearing about Jackson being cast as I was hoping it wasn't nepotism in casting the titular character, but Jackson left me speechless at the end of this film.
On the contrary, I genuinely felt so much hate for Joe Jackson throughout this movie, which is due to Domingo's fantastic performance. To be honest, it is incredibly hard to dislike Domingo at all. He is simply so likable, both in real life and the performances he has given thus far. But his turn as Joe Jackson showed us a side of Domingo that we haven't seen before. Joe was such a despicable person due to his greed and his treatment towards his sons, especially Michael, but Domingo simply makes this character pop off the screen. It felt like we weren't even watching a performance at times. For that, I applaud Domingo and I enjoy seeing him rise up the ranks of some of the best actors of our time.
In addition to these two major standout roles, the rest of the cast that make up this biopic are great. I adore the chemistry between Jackson and Jones throughout their scenes together, and I think Miles Teller was a good choice for John Branca. Juliano Valdi proves he has such a bright career ahead of him when portraying young Michael here; there was a moment I looked at my girlfriend during the beginning of this film and I told her there's no doubt in my mind that he is going to go far. Kendrick Sampson is fun as Quincy Jones, but I want to give props especially to Nia Long for her performance as Michael's mother, Katherine. She is the quiet peacefulness in Michael's life, a role that she perfectly embodied alongside Jaafar Jackson. I think she is just amazing here.
While the performances here are truly what makes this film great and stand out, I want to touch on Fuqua's direction here. The moments in the recording studio with Michael throughout the entire film are filled with magic and wonder, and I couldn't help but smile watching these segments. He was able to capture what Michael did best, and the electric energy and the excitement in these scenes was definitely felt in the theater while I watched this film. I still think about these moments after seeing the film a few days ago and smile at how great the direction was for this film.
Michael Jackson was larger than life, and his lasting impact and legacy is still incredibly felt today. This movie not only documents what he went through during the early stages of his career, but was a celebration of his life and this wonderful music he brought to the world. It makes me wonder what the world would be like today if Jackson was still with us, but at least we were lucky enough to have this little glimpse at greatness while he was still here.
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