Michael Movie Review

Do we need an introduction to ‘Michael Jackson’? Every music lover across the world must have listened to his songs and watched his mesmerising dance moves, innumerable times, isn’t it? We may have read about him in books and watched a few documentaries about him on television but there was no feature film made about him until now. Michael(2026), is the first feature film that is made about the life of Michael Jackson. Did the film live up to the stature of the Greatest of All Time in the musical world? Let’s figure it out with a detailed analysis.

Analysis:

The Jacksons: An American Dream(Miniseries) in 1992, Man in the Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story(Television film) in 2004 and Michael Jackson: Searching for Neverland(Television film) in 2017, are the three films/series which were made on the life and times of the ‘King of Pop’. However, there was no feature film made on his life until the producer, Graham King, announced ‘Michael’ in 2019. When news of the film broke, it was widely expected that it would cover the full span of Michael Jackson’s life (i.e., 1958 to 2009). But, proving all the initial speculations wrong, the makers of the film showed the life of Michael Jackson from 1966 to 1988 and ended the film, with the line ‘His Story Continues’. Does that mean we get to see a second part? No clarity on it yet. Since it covered only a part of Michael Jackson’s life, the film does not give the complete satisfaction of watching a biopic of the greatest ever singer.

The primary focus throughout the film was on the strained and troubled relationship between Michael Jackson and his father, Joseph Jackson. The film starts in 1966, when Joseph trains his five sons and forms a band with the name ‘The Jackson 5’. The band started with doing gigs at local clubs in Indiana in 1987, and in no time starts to top the charts with sell-out concerts and ended up signing with the musical label ‘Motown’. Joseph quickly realises that Michael is a gifted kid and he’s the trump card of his family’s band. He wants Michael to be part of the family’s band and do concerts with his brothers but Michael wants to go solo. He wants to express his ideas and feelings through songs and music on his own.

The entire film revolves around this conflict between the father and the son, along with showing a few of Michael’s chartbusters in between. It is because of this unidimensional narration that the film at times feels like a bland commentary without emotional depth. It feels as if the makers of the film did not get complete permission from the kin of Michael to show his entire life’s events.

The best part of the film is the way it shows Michael’s relationship with his pets. A Giraffe, a Chimpanzee, a rat, a snake and a Llama. These are the pets which Michael used to possess and he prefers calling them friends instead of pets. ‘Why don’t you make friends of your age instead of making pets as your friends?’, asks Michael’s mother. And, he replies saying that the kids his age just want to click pics with him because of his popularity but they never treat him like one among them. He also says that he feels alive and happy when he is around his pet friends.

This entire sequence was narrated so well and it makes us feel for the star kids who miss the simple joys of life. There’s also a brilliantly conceived sequence where a teary-eyed Michael wears sunglasses to not let the fans see his tears. There’s another sequence where MTV refuses to air Michael’s songs because of their rule not to endorse black artists. This sequence shows the harsh reality of racism in society and how even the biggest of the stars are no exception to it.

The other good part of the film was the very well-written dialogues. ‘The things we could with that voice’, ‘You are the greatest of all time. There is no one like you and there will never be one like you’, ‘I don’t give a shit or two shits or even three shits. Either play Michael’s songs on your MTV or else I’ll pull out my entire catalogue’, ‘Why do I need a PR? All I need is record sales and the sales will take care of the publicity’, ‘I would love to spread joy and happiness across the world through my music. I feel it is my life’s calling’, the film has many such dialogues which talks about the greatness of Michael and how everyone around him treats him with high regard.

Jaafar Jeremiah Jackson(the nephew of Michael Jackson), in his acting debut, did a superb job with his performance and with his dancing skills. He looked almost like his uncle and replicated his uncle’s mannerisms and dances very well without appearing as an imitation. Juliano Krue, in the role of a possessive and control freak father, did a brilliant job with his performance. Nia Long in the role of Michael’s supportive mother, did a very good job with her performance. She made us feel the helplessness of Michael’s mother, so well.

Overall, ‘Michael’ has it moments. It certainly is a decent watch to catch up on the life and times of Michael Jackson on the big screen. The songs, the beats and the dance moves, looked so good to watch on an IMAX screen. However, you may get slightly disappointed if you step into the theatre expecting full life biopic on the life of Michael Jackson. The film deals only with one aspect of Michael’s life and we can see the deliberate attempt of the makers to stay away from showing any controversial things about Michael Jackson. It is surprising to a see a PR driven film on a star who used to believe in the phrase ‘My work should talk but not my PR’.

Bottomline: – Half-hearted Tribute

Rating – 2.5/5

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