Michael Jackson's This Is It Review

Posted by Bryan Kristopowitz on 11.01.2009

It just sort of is.

"Michael Jackson's This Is It" Review

Michael Jackson- himself
Kenny Ortega- Director/himself
Orianthi- Lead guitar
Tommy Organ- Guitar
Jonathan Moffett- Drums
Alex Al- Electric and synth bass

Directed by Kenny Ortega

Distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment

Rated PG for some suggestive choreography and scary images
Runtime- 112 minutes

Website: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/michaeljacksonthisisit/



"Michael Jackson's This Is It" is a hard movie to judge because it's hard to define what precisely it is. In one sense, "This Is It" is part concert movie and part extended behind-the-scenes documentary, but then it's not really any of those things because the concert movie doesn't showcase an actual concert, just pieces of rehearsal footage edited together. And because there was no concert, the behind-the-scenes documentary aspect has no pay off as there's no real context to base it off of. As a result, "This Is It" just sort of is.

That isn't a bad thing, though. Despite its rough look and feel, "This Is It" does manage to entertain for most of its running time. Jackson is in good spirits throughout and clearly enjoying working out the bits and pieces, big and small, of what he initially referred to as his "final curtain call." He can still sing, he can still dance, and he's always full of energy and ideas on how to make the show, the music, everything, "better." The people around him, from the dancers and musicians and to the technicians, are in constant awe of his presence (several of them say as much during quick, on camera interviews) and they work just as hard, maybe even harder than Jackson, just to keep up with him.

We also get to see some of the filmed elements Jackson and concert director Kenny Ortega (who also put the movie together and is listed as its director) had planned for various songs. "Smooth Criminal" features a great sequence where Jackson's character is put it into the Rita Hayworth movie "Gilda" and is then chased by a gun toting thug that kind of looks like Humphrey Bogart. "Thriller" has a big 3-D zombie sequence featuring some very cool zombie make up (not as cool as the Rick Baker stuff from the "Thriller" music video but pretty dang close). "They Don't Care About Us" has a bit where the song's dancers are transformed into thousands of soldiers via CGI green screen magic. And for the song "Earth Song" there's a small film featuring a little girl in a rain forest, interacting with nature, and then being chased by a big ass, fire breathing bulldozer (a bulldozer Jackson would have fought on stage). There are other filmed bits here and there but these four are the ones that stand out.



The star of the show is obviously Jackson, but some of the background performers also get a chance to shine (Jackson even tells one of them this is your chance to shine). The uber hot blonde guitarist Orianthi kicks some ass in two songs (I want to say the first one is "They Don't Care About Us" but I could be wrong on that. She rocks out big time during "Beat It"). And Tommy Organ, who we see playing throughout the movie, is one of the best guitarists I've ever seen. Why the heck doesn't this guy have his own rock band? And Alex Al, the show's keyboardist, sure does know how to play (the drummer, Jonathan Moffett, is pretty dang cool, too). It's too bad they never got a chance to rock the world in the actual concert.



Now, the flick does have a few down beats. One, the rehearsal section where Ortega and Jackson pick the dancers they want for the concert comes off as a cheap "So You Think You Can Dance?" thing. The early testimonials from the dancer hopefuls come off as a tad pretentious (you can only hear "Michael Jackson is my idol" so many times before it becomes annoying). And there's too much from Kenny Ortega on screen (he comes off 99% of the time as some guy doing a bad impersonation of Sydney Pollack).The biggest down beat comes from the lack of Jackson explaining, either via interview or voice over, why certain things in the rehearsals work and others don't. This down beat, though, is understandable as Jackson is dead and he obviously couldn't do them, but it's something you're going to notice anyway.

The one thing about the movie that surprised me (and it may surprise you, too) was how it didn't really, in an overall sense, exploit just how final it all is when it comes to the subject of Michael Jackson performing. Because this really is it. Yes, we'll likely get a few "new" Jackson songs over the next few years (you know, unreleased songs gussied up to work in the here and now), but we're never going to see him dance and perform on stage ever again. The movie never hits you over the head with that, it leaves that revelation up to you to discover. The movie ends with a group prayer (Jackson participates in the prayer) that's actually more hopeful than sad. Again, the movie never hits you over the head with "You do Michael Jackson is dead, don't you?" I don't know if that's a good decision on the part of director Ortega. Had Ortega emphasized it more, perhaps the movie would be more powerful, more meaningful. But Ortega doesn't go that route. He just sort of leaves it be. I mean, yeah, he can only do so much with the footage he has, but it's still frustrating.



I am glad, though, that the movie doesn't come off as just a money making scheme by the Jackson estate to get the "dead celebrity earning more in death than in life" ball rolling. There are moments here and there, yeah, where you get that feeling (I can't pinpoint them but they're there) that this flick is just about the money and you're a sucker for sitting through it, but they're fleeting.

I do wonder, though, how much appeal this movie is going to have for people who are not Jackson fans. The just generally curious probably aren't going to sit through the whole thing (the roughness of some of the footage can be trying on the big screen. Disorienting is probably a better word). And if you're not a connoisseur of pop culture or a Jackson fan you're probably not going to care if "This Is It" really is it. You're just going to want to know why it isn't "better." You may also find yourself wondering, given what we all know about Jackson's health in the run up to the proposed concert series, would he have survived the series given the amount of effort and work that would have been necessary to make the show pop night after night? It's probably what will drive future viewings of the movie, to see if there's a hidden moment in there that spells it out for the audience. I would say, at the moment, that the movie doesn't, at least explicitly. There's no moment in the movie where it's obvious that Jackson is hurting and in need of help and guidance and advice. I will also say, and this is just my opinion, after watching "This Is It," Jackson would have given some great performances at the beginning of the concert run, but he probably wouldn't have been able to finish the series. Desire, adrenaline, and drugs can only take a person so far before it all stops working. I could be wrong on that, but it's what I personally interpret from it.

In the end, I enjoyed "This Is It," despite its issues and problems. Again, it's a hard movie to wrap your head around considering the circumstances behind its creation and what went into making it. Just what is "This Is It"? Is it safe to say that it's just entertainment and nothing more? Perhaps that's the best way to explain it and the best frame of mind to be in if you decide to see it. It's always going to be deliberately unfinished. It isn't going to get any better than this. It just is.

Yeah, I think I'll go with that. It just is.

So what do we have here? Gratuitous opening crawl, gratuitous heartfelt and emotional testimonials by people that really want to dance for Michael Jackson, a guy that looks like Justin Timberlake, gratuitous Michael Jackson, gratuitous Kenny Ortega, gratuitous black guy playing a guitar, gratuitous news conference footage, gratuitous green screen hooey, great music, a wicked hot blonde female guitarist, gratuitous Michael Jackson wearing glittering gold pants, gratuitous black-and-white movie thing for the song "Smooth Criminal," gratuitous Michael Jackson vs. Humphrey Bogart (maybe), gratuitous Michael Jackson wearing a Popeye shirt, a "Jackson 5" interlude, a very disgusting Russian ballet coach, a very cool 3-D zombie bit, a giant spider, gratuitous Michael Jackson on a crane above the stage, gratuitous "Black or White" music video snippet, gratuitous rain forest thing, gratuitous plan for Michael Jackson to fight a bulldozer, a final group prayer, and some nifty stuff after the credits.

Best lines: "I'm from Australia," "The dancers in a Michael Jackson show are an extension of Michael Jackson. They are an extension of the man," "Hold for applause, hold for applause, slow umbrella fade out," "Don't change the tempo!," "You gotta let it simmer," "I gotta cue that," "I'm just trying to conserve my throat so please understand," "Make sure there's someone there waiting for Michael with a flashlight, okay? Great," and "At least we get a feel of it."

The 411: "Michael Jackson's This Is It" is a hard movie to figure out. Just what is it, exactly? On the outside, on the surface, it's the last time we'll all get to see Jackson performing onstage. What that ends up meaning to you is, well, entirely up to you. It just is. That's what I take from it.

Final Score:  7.9   [ Good ]