A One Mann’s Movies review of “Michael”. (2026, 2*, 12A).
So, how to rate this ‘film’ about Michael Jackson’s rise to fame? I’d call it a biopic, but I really don’t think I can bring myself to. For this is such a sanitised and sickly-sweet parody of a music biopic that it would be a crime to link it to such worthwhile pieces of work as “Bohemian Rhapsody“; “Rocketman” or “I Wanna Dance With Somebody“. As a film, it is watchable enough (with a sick-bag close to hand, at times). But context is everything. And this film is more culpable for what it omits rather than what it includes.
One Mann’s Movies Rating:
Plot:
Demanding father Joe Jackson (Colman Domingo) rules his family with a rod of iron to make them perform professionally as the “Jackson 5”. But it is young Michael that really shines as the talent in the family: a talent that would go on to make music history.
Certification:
UK:Â 12A;Â US: PG-13. (From the BBFC website: “Moderate threat, domestic abuse”.)
Talent:
Starring: Jaafar Jackson, Colman Domingo, Nia Long, Juliano Valdi, Kendrick Sampson, KeiLyn Durrel Jones, Miles Teller, Liv Symone, Mike Myers, Jayden Harville, Jaylen Lyndon Hunter, Judah Edwards and Nathaniel Logan McIntyre.
Directed by: Antoine Fuqua.
Written by: John Logan.
Running Time: 2h 7m.
Review:
Positives:
- Michael’s nephew Jaafar Jackson does a really creditable job of emulating his famous uncle and does most of the singing in the movie. But I have to confess he was rather put in the shade by the talents of Juliano Valdi playing the young Michael who makes you really believe that he is someone very special!
- The film is as technically adept as you would expect from a director of the calibre of Antoine Fuqua. The concert scenes are well shot and there are some iconic scenes that stick in the mind, not least of which is the final shot of the film with a confident Michael with his hand in front of his face.
- A sequence where CBS boss Walter Yetnikoff (an almost unrecognisable Mike Myers) lays down the law to MTV insisting that they show Jackson’s videos is quite interesting. (It’s painted that this – MTV not showing videos from black artists – was a racist thing (which it still might have been in part). But looking at the history, this is explained more because MTV’s demographic in the early 80’s was aimed at “rock” and not aligned with R&B and soul. It is true though that CBS did apply pressure on MTV around the Billie Jean video.)
Negatives:
- Overall, as a music biopic it’s a pretty bland affair. If this was ‘just a film’ about A.N.Other musician, it would be a straight-to-streaming or a DVD-bargain-bin affair. There is virtually no drama in the film other than the abusive father/son relationship between Joe (Colman Domingo) and Michael. We follow the career of Jackson from his early rehearsals and first performances in the steel-town of Gary, Indiana in 1966 (by far the best part of the film) through to his London solo-concert performance in 1988. During that time, we see a star-struck brush with Gladys Knight (Liv Symone), a production partnership with Quincy Jones (Kendrick Sampson), a management relationship with John Branca (a rather bland Miles Teller) and that showdown between Walter Yetnikoff and MTV. But all of these encounters are little more than mildly interesting within the scope of the film. The other Jackson brothers could have been played by cardboard cut-outs for all the screen time they get. And Janet Jackson (presumably for legal reasons) is erased from history like in the “Back to the Future” photo!
- In other places, the script over-dramatises events. We see the accident during the Pepsi commercial where Jackson’s hair caught fire. And it was undoubtedly serious (he suffered 2nd and 3rd degree burns)… but a doctor saying “he nearly died”…. really?!
- So many animals present, but no elephant in the room! I have to point out the key problem I have with the film and that is that it paints Michael Jackson as nothing other than the Messiah. There are scenes of him visiting sick children in multiple hospitals (you know, just like Jimmy Savile used to do). But the film conveniently ends in 1988 (“His story continues”, LOL!): just about the time that Jackson bought the Sycamore Valley Ranch and started converting it into ‘Neverland’. I must admit to not peering closely through the numerous layers of smoke on this one to try to perceive the truth (I must watch the “Leaving Neverland” documentary). But this film really goes NOWHERE near the topic: something that certainly would have made for a much more vibrant and interesting biopic.
- Back to the Messianic nature of the film, the front-row fans in the concert shows are almost orgasmic at seeing their hero on stage. Even the British ones! I’m sure, if you were a Jackson fan and got to be there at one of his shows you would have been excited about it, but the acting screams over-the-top excessive.
- The script gives us some really toe-curling dialogue at times. “They’re not my fans… they’re part of my family” Jackson coos at one point; Katherine (Nia Long) explains how Michael has been gifted with a “special light” (vom); the speech Michael gives to the rival LA gang members he convenes is excruciating (ugh!). The sad thing is that Jackson was such an oddball character, and was brought up in such a dysfunctional environment, that this might all be actual dialogue and US audiences might lap it up. But as a Brit, it’s still tricky to keep your popcorn down at times.
- When I saw Colman Domingo in the trailer I was expecting more acting fireworks. But what we got was a pantomime villain: literally the Captain Hook of the Peter Pan story. As such Domingo comes across as scowling and over-the-top for most of the last part of the film. In the UK this is rated as a 12A and one thing to be aware of, particularly if you are thinking taking under-12’s to the film, is that a belt-whipping that young Michael receives from Joe near the start of the film is seriously fierce and upsetting: most of the rest of the film is pretty PG to be honest, but this scene might be really disturbing for younger kids.
- We get a (presumably) CGI giraffe which is OK but the CGI-realised chimp “Bubbles” is really awful. The chimp is given overly humanoid reactions and expressions that are just laughable! (By the way, I just googled it and Bubbles is “still alive and living a peaceful life at the Center for Great Apes in Wauchula, Florida, where he has resided since 2005. Now an adult, he weighs around 185 pounds, is considered a “gentle” leader of his group.” So that’s nice, eh?)
Summary Thoughts:
I wasn’t expecting much from this Jackson-family-produced offering and I wasn’t disappointed. And audiences seem to have reacted well to it, with a 7.7 on IMDB at the time of writing. But I found it bland and ducking the major issues with the star: it’s sanitised to the point of being hygienic.
If I was rating it as a generic pop-story film, I would probably make it 3 stars, since it was watchable as a story of a rising star and his abusive ‘Colonel Tom Parker’-like father. But owing to its general cowardice in going near the elephant in the room, I’ve settled on a score a star lower than that. You may be a Jackson fan. You may love it. In which case, enjoy.
Where to watch?
Trailer:
The trailer for the film is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbtgEE6rkxw.
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