Michael Movie Review

“Michael” is a biography that focuses on the King of Pop. Michael Jackson is well-known as incredible artist and performer. This movie about his life only amplifies the positives and avoids any of the negatives. It is a glorious jukebox of Jackson’s Greatest Hits, and a concentrated blast of music and dancing.

 

There is a small family in Gary, Indiana, who has a path to success. This path has a drill sergeant task-master named Joe Jackson (played by Colman Domingo). His five sons are being turned into an entertaining musical group.

 

The focus is on the youngest son, Michael (played by Juliano Valdi). Father Joe is harsh and strict when dealing with all the boys. But he takes out his anger mostly on young Michael.

 

Michael does have a lot of raw talent, even though he lacks much self-confidence. His mother, Katherine (played by Nia Long), is Michael’s biggest fan and supporter. She is the one who keeps Michael motivated.

 

She does not have any power to limit the verbal and mental abuse from Joe — and he makes Michael push himself to succeed. The “Jackson Five” becomes a big deal. They are discovered by a Motown talent agent, and are now on the charts. They work with a Motown producer, Barry Gordy (played by Larenz Tate) who is like a surrogate father to Michael.

 

The musical group has many hits and race up the charts. Michael is the lead singer, and is the face of the entire group. At the age of 10, he is already a pretty big star. The entire family is now wealthy and they move to the L.A. suburbs.

 

Joe Jackson is the tyrant of the family, and he is motivated by more money and bigger contracts. The brothers are OK with being in the background, because they feel they have reached the top.

 

But once Michael reaches an age where he wants to branch out, he wants to create music on his own. The older Michael (played by Jaafar Jackson) gets with a big music producer. He meets with Quincy Jones (played by Klendrick Samson).

 

The album “Off The Wall” is produced and becomes a huge seller. Michael is becoming a big star all on his own. Joe Jackson is pleased with Michael. But he wants his son to focus on adding his own success to the overall “Jackson Five” as a group.

 

With the fans mobbing Michael and the rest of the group all the time, Joe hires a full-time security bodyguard. Bill Bray (played by KeiLyn Durrel Jones) is always around to help out with protecting Michael.

 

Since bodyguard Bill is so open and close to Michael all the time, Michael again thinks of Bill as a surrogate father. Bill takes Michael around to toy stores. They buy lots of toys, and then deliver them to a bunch of kids in hospital wards.

 

Michael feels suffocated by his father Joe Jackson. The elder Jackson rules over the family and the musical group like a dictator. Michael needs to find a way out. He wants to have the freedom to make his own music. He hires an experienced lawyer and manager named John Branca (played by Miles Teller). Branca is given the task to ‘fire’ Joe Jackson. Easy, Peasy. Just send a fax to Joe’s office.

 

Michael sees that there is too much gang violence in Los Angeles. He has the solution. He creates a song and has dance rehearsals with rival gang members attending – and now they all get along. But there is a roadblock on Michael’s ability to get his music videos getting played that new-fangled show called MTV.

 

Branca and Michael visit with the head of the CBS music division. They convince the CBS chief, named Walter Yetnikoff (cameo by Mike Myers), to call up the head of MTV and get a ‘Black Artist’ on the show.

 

There is also the way that Michael decides on the name of his new album. He gets a new video created – with the director being John Landis. Michael is giving almost as many directions for the filming of the video – almost as much as the actual director. Again, Michael has a new hip hit record called “Thriller”. Plus also, he gets a big boost from MTV play.

 

There is a 25-year anniversary TV show for Motown. Michael is performing and breaks out his new dance moves of the ‘Moonwalk’. This is another major innovation and another reason that Michael is known as the ‘King of Pop’.

 

Michael is topping the charts and having a great time. But his father, Joe Jackson, still finds a way to get Michael back on board the “Jackson Five”. This will be a new world-wide tour, sponsored by Pepsi.

 

During the shoot of a commercial for Pepsi, there is a tragic accident with fireworks. Michael’s hair catches fire and he gets severely injured. He is in the hospital for a long time, and is given a lot of pain meds.

 

That experience with drugs is one thing that will haunt Michael in the future. His father Joe is disheartened that Michael is not going to get right out of the emergency ward and back performing immediately.

 

Michael recovers and goes on the “Victory Tour” with his brothers. They perform as the “Jackson Five”, but for the final time. It was a magnificent send-off to his family group, and to his father as a pushy hindrance in his life. Michael is now totally free of doing what Joe Jackson wants him to do. He is free to create and perform as he wants. He is able to get further along in his life.

 

But the ending, at some point in 1988, it never reaches a time where Michael’s life where obstacles come long. His future would have many difficulties. There will be drug addiction. There are allegations of sexual abuse.

 

But these are never touched on in this movie. This movie has an approval from the Jackson estate. They want to make Michael Jackson look as good as humanly possible. Perhaps, that’s just “Human Nature”…

 

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“Michael” does a fantastic job being a Jackson jukebox of Greatest Hits. It is a musical ocean that is a mile wide, but only inches deep. In that sense, there is ton of emphasis on the dancing, the music, and the level of performance that is off the charts.

 

In terms of the story, and the acting, it never stretches for the stars. It never treads into uncharted lands, but it walks a well-trod pathway. The performer Michael was always a ground-breaker. But this movie is OK with being a generic and by-the-books reproduction of the high points in his life.

 

Jaafar Jackson does an incredible job reimaging the essence of Michael Jackson. Jaafar is the real-life nephew of Uncle Michael. So, he was able to see the ‘King of Pop’ up close and personal, and the resemblance shows. He nails the athletic dance moves and iconic clothes. He makes for a very good substitute for the real thing.

 

Coleman Domingo is a great actor, so he can bring a human spirit to a role (Joe Jackson) that is cartoonish bad guy. Joe treats his sons badly sometimes, but only because he is driven to see them succeed. Of course, being fabulously wealthy ain’t too bad either…

 

“Michael” is a decent effort to catch the mystery found within the charisma of Michael Jackson. But will that make it a ‘Thriller’– or is it so weak that it is ‘Bad’?