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<\/figure>\n\n\n\n(Look, it’s a microphone. On its side, mind you. Just tried to get it to swivel round a bit, but it didn’t work. Anyway, turn ya head sideways for a mo, if you would be so kind)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How hollow do you need to get? Sure, you know it\u2019s going to make some decent dollar in the box office department, but did you really have to make it so stale? Yes, one of the film\u2019s three producers is Graham King, who\u2019s behind Bohemian Rhapsody (another producer is John Branca, Jackson\u2019s attorney. Hm. Nice. Lots of room for an objective portrayal here). As with that empty joint, the central performance is compelling, but there\u2019s nothing interesting to get your teeth into. We know all the content. The film just follows the beige linear narrative of Jackson\u2019s life up until the Bad era. Then those cynical ending words after the credits lets you know that \u2018Michael Jackson will return\u2019. Code for, \u2018yes, we will be fleecing this horse for all that its worth, and damn the authenticity\u2019. Sure, they go into vaguely dark territory in terms of Michael\u2019s relationship with his abusive dad (Colman Domingo on typically fine form), but it\u2019s not explored particularly well, and the rest of the film is just gushing praise from all of the surrounding crowd. Just everyone going, \u2018Hey Michael, that was great, wow\u2019. The whole film\u2019s more of a jukebox musical, a slice of promotional propaganda (not tasty, just to add), than a strict biopic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (There’s the microphone, but with more pen work from yours truly. No I couldn’t get the image to turn around into landscape. Annoying, for sure)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Part of the reason Michael feels so lame is probably down to the fact that my local cinema has been putting on a season of music biopics recently, and they\u2019ve all been fantastic. Straight Outta Compton was a particular standout, but 8 Mile and Ray were both great too. There was just so much energy and drama in all of those flicks, whereas here it\u2019s just going through the motions, year by year, concert by concert. Add some excitement, dude. It\u2019s clearly going to do the job of keeping the MJ fanbase as excited as ever, but a music biopic needs to have something compelling to say in order to get across any real impact. Here it\u2019s just the Jackson estate going \u2018we\u2019ve got our man to promote and we\u2019re gonna promote him. None of that controversial stuff. None at all\u2019. The guarantee of a second movie technically means there\u2019s some potential to explore that area, but are they going to do that? Nah. All the stories about excessive edits (there are four editors here, which doesn\u2019t feel like a great sign), cuts and interventions from the estate in the production of Michael just suggest the next one\u2019s going to be another curated, polished and crystal clean product designed to appeal to its target audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By not addressing any of that darker, stranger side of the man, however supremely talented he might be, it just leaves awkward moments in the narrative. I couldn\u2019t look at scenes where Michael was obsessively reading Peter Pan and stories about Neverland without thinking about, you guessed it, Leaving Neverland, the 2019 documentary that provided some pretty disturbing background about the troubled star. Add to that all the montages (and yes, like all tried-and-tested music biopics, there\u2019s plenty of montages) of Michael visiting sick children in hospital, and the awkwardness just grows and grows. There could have at least been some opportunity to explore Michael\u2019s discography in a fairly entertaining and non-linear fashion, but any potential creativity in that department is just squashed by lazy, \u2018he did that and then this\u2019 linear snoozefests. Disappointing. Bad, one might say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (And there it is again, not turned around properly. I guess it still looks good in portrait. But ideally have a gander at it in landscape by turning your neck round a lil’ bit. Merci)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I knew the from the moment I heard that this joint was directly backed by the Jackson estate that it was going to be bad, but yeah, this isn\u2019t it. This makes me feel disappointment and cynicism. While it\u2019s clearly already doing super well in the box office department, I won\u2019t be there to celebrate … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/nancyepton.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_6328-rotated.jpg\")
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