Of course, how and where you watch a film always has an influence. For example, I watched “Michael” at the international premiere as part of the Global Fan Celebration in a Berlin concert hall, together with more than 1,000 die-hard Michael Jackson fans from all over the world. There was also a Dolby Atmos sound that blew your ears away in the best possible way. What a mood! The entire hall went completely crazy during the opening credits. And “Training Day” director Antoine Fuqua delivers a film that is perfectly tailored to exactly this audience: “Michael” takes a lot of time for the iconic stage performances and also strings one legendary Jackson moment after the next. However, he doesn’t seem to be particularly interested in the moments or the people in between.
The striking focus of the biopic, which was officially authorized by the community of heirs, certainly has something to do with the eventful production history, which is definitely noticeable in the finished film. Because it later turned out that it was not possible to name or portray certain people in connection with allegations of abuse from 1993 due to legal agreements, the last third had to be redesigned again – with the help of extensive reshoots, among other things. Instead of extending into the 1990s, “Michael” now concentrates entirely on the first years of his career up to the release of the groundbreaking album “Bad” in 1987. This is primarily about cutting ties with his everything-controlling father. A functional, nicely rounded, but also very generic story arc that doesn’t penetrate too deeply.
Lead actor Jaafar Jackson looks a lot like his legendary uncle.
Michael Jackson (as a child: Juliano Valdi) is just five years old when his success-hungry and controlling father Joe (Colman Domingo) makes him the front man of the “Jackson 5”. It’s still five years away from the worldwide breakthrough with Motown Records, but it’s already clear from the first appearances at folk festivals and talent shows that little Michael is the real star of the group. Although his success is constantly growing, he is regularly beaten with the belt by his unyielding father, which even his loving and caring mother Katherine (Nia Long) cannot prevent.
As a young adult, Michael (Jaafar Jackson) becomes increasingly aware of his superstar role, but despite hugely successful solo albums, he initially still fails to emancipate himself from his father and siblings. Instead, he builds a childlike refuge in his youth room, which is reminiscent of Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland, which he also populates with all sorts of unusual pets – from a llama to a giraffe to his chimpanzee Bubbles. It’s only when Michael meets music manager John Branca (Miles Teller) that he finally develops enough self-confidence to go his own way. But then disaster strikes while filming a Pepsi commercial…
Almost a double
From his first appearances at the age of five to his premature death at the age of 50: Far too much happened in Michael Jackson’s life to fit it into a single film – especially since “Michael” is comparatively “short” for this genre at “only” 127 minutes. There was already a rumor going around that a first cut of the film was more than four hours long. So it makes perfect sense – regardless of any legal problems – to initially concentrate on the period from 1963 to 1987 in “Michael”. However, the focus gained in this way is not used to delve deeper into the characters and their dynamics. Instead, the focus is entirely on Michael Jackson’s performances – as part of the Jackson 5 and as a solo artist – although in many cases the performances are shown for an unusually long time.
It doesn’t matter whether this is because there simply wouldn’t have been enough material to stretch a “half a film” to feature length, or whether it was always planned that way anyway: especially thanks to Jaafar Jackson, the music sequences in particular are definitely worth seeing! The son of Michael Jackson’s brother Jermaine is not only a spitting image of his famous uncle, his moves also always amaze. In contrast to Taron Egerton in “Rocketman” or Timothée Chalamet in “Like A Complete Unknown”, Jaafar Jackson only sings himself in quieter moments or rehearsal scenes, while during the stadium performances – comparable to “Bohemian Rhapsody” or “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” – Michael Jackson’s original voice, which is already unattainable, thunders out of the speakers. But even because of the gigantic production effort, the result is still exhilarating; an even more gigantic imitation spectacle seems hard to imagine.
Every detail was taken into account when it came to the equipment: shooting the iconic thriller short film with dancing zombies is also an absolute highlight in “Michael”!
The father is evil, the mother is a saint – and when she finally stands up against her husband, there is the long-awaited cathartic applause. Add to that constant allusions to Peter Pan in Neverland – and with that the person Michael Jackson is already thoroughly psychologicalized. And because we don’t want things to get too dark, after a particularly intense moment with the father, a giraffe simply runs past the window on the first floor, and then we’re immediately in a good mood again – although we don’t want to complain too much about that, because the (computer-generated) chimpanzee’s delightfully generously interspersed appearances are really incredibly cute. Otherwise, you also notice who was in charge here: His long-time lawyer and advisor John Branca has also controlled his estate since Jackson’s death in 2009 – and is now portrayed by Miles Teller (“Top Gun 2”) as such a brilliant mastermind that it almost has something unintentionally funny about it.
The fact that the more ambivalent sides of Jackson himself (a possible drug addiction is at least minimally hinted at) have so far been largely left out can be explained by the fact that the film ends in 1987. It will be incredibly exciting to see whether the heirs in a possible “Michael 2” really give the green light to treat some topics with a little more ambivalence and seriousness. Until then, however, you should just be aware of what you are getting here: a simple screen hagiography, but implemented with incredible production effort, which at least makes fans’ hearts beat faster, while the rest of the audience probably won’t be much the wiser afterward, but was at least solidly entertained for a good two hours with plenty of bombast in equipment and recognizable, iconic moments every minute.
Conclusion: As the ultimate lip-sync spectacle with tremendous visual appeal, “Michael” really does everything a fan could wish for. This means that there is no question that the film will pour a gigantic pile of money into the worldwide box office – and will almost certainly result in a second part. In addition, the glossy biopic skims over most of the stages of the first half of the superstar’s career rather superficially.