To be alive between ~1965 and ~1990 and witness the rise and explosion of Michael Jackson, especially as a young person, more so a young Black person, must have been quite the experience. Breaking records left and right, breaking down barriers and breaking hearts, Michael created a legacy never seen before or since. Unfortunately, such an intense level of fame and popularity came with scrutiny and interest that was just as intense, to the point of unrelenting intrusion into his personal life. Sadly, we all know how Michael’s life began to unravel and eventually came to a tragic end. Even now, the curiosity about his life persists, and to that end, we have the first big screen Michael Jackson biopic. Being one of many biopics centred on musicians in the last decade, does Michael stand out from the rest, just as Jackson himself did, or is it just another run-of-the-mill, money-making churn of the Jackson machine?

Director: Antoine Fuqua
Writer: John Logan
Cast: Jaafar Jackson, Colman Domingo, Nia Long, Juliano Valdi, KeiLyn Durrel Jones, Laura Harrier, Jessica Sula, Mike Myers, Miles Teller

Spanning Michael’s life from his childhood up to his first solo tour, 1988’s Bad, the film follows him through the relentless, abusive training imposed upon him and his brothers by their father Joe Jackson (Domingo) as they began the Jackson 5, with Michael receiving the majority of the abuse and having little semblance of a childhood compared to his older brothers. Through his lonesome teens and trying to find his own voice and place in the world as a young adult, we play witness to those who emboldened him and those who tried to hold him back, all while Michael tried to hold on to anything that grounded him or made him feel somewhat normal in a world that could not have been further from the norm, a world he was forced into and eventually dominated.

Funnily enough, this is a very entertaining film. How could it not be, being about one of the world’s greatest ever entertainers? It features numerous hits from Jackson’s early career and spends a good amount of time letting the music take over in some scenes. It is also however a little formulaic as a musical biopic, bookended by Michael prepping and feeling the energy before going onstage at Wembley for his Bad tour, similar to the opening and ending to Bohemian Rhapsody, and throwing in recreated performances when it could have been more focused on Michael’s journey. We even had Mike Myers showing up as a top record exec once again, just like in Bohemian Rhapsody. It has been reported that there was to be more shown regarding the allegations of child abuse, but it had to be cut for legal reasons, and so there had to be something to fill the remaining time, hence the default to the formulaic option, perhaps. For fans of the music it makes for a more positive experience, but for those expecting more exposition of the drama in his later life, it is likely more disappointing.

It cannot be disputed that the work that went into the production was incredible. The recreation of sets, costumes and choreography beats out most other musical biopics, becoming eerily similar to the originals. With the help and approval of some members of Michael’s family (including his mother Katherine and son Prince), there are likely a lot of accuracies amongst the dramatic license taken for some aspects of the story and production. With Michael Jackson, the truth was often stranger than fiction, perhaps none more so than the menagerie that he kept, including his famous chimpanzee companion Bubbles. In the film they are depicted as his ‘friends’, a response to the deep loneliness he experienced as a child and a ‘Peter Pan’ complex that he, ironically, possibly never grew out of (fortunately the animals appear to all be CGI in the film). There were opportunities such as this to delve deeper into Michael’s psyche, but alas, as was true in Michaels reality, the music came first.

Michael was portrayed by his real-life nephew, son of his brother Jermaine, Jaafar Jackson. Jaafar embodied Michael as well as anyone possibly could, blood relative or not, a sentiment echoed by Katherine Jackson. His performance was full of depth and consideration for his uncle, with an excellent dramatic performance and unbelievable musical performances. He clearly put the work in to emulate and sound like Michael, and his musical performances were almost as stunning as the King of Pop’s himself (the songs were reportedly mostly Michael’s vocals other than the a capella performances). Likewise, Juliano Krue Valdi as young Michael made an incredible debut, lighting up the audience with his musical performances and bringing us to tears when portraying the abuse Michael suffered. Colman Domingo was astoundingly terrifying as Joe Jackson and suitably portrayed him, rightly or wrongly, as a villain who cared only about money and the Jackson name, the biggest immovable mountain that Michael had to overcome, and Nia Long’s Katherine was the opposing shining light in the suffocating darkness of Michael’s life in spite of her inability to protect him. The ensemble that made up the Jackson 5 were also very good, and it was a shame their part in Michael’s story took more of a backseat in this version of his life.

The thing about documenting Michael Jackson’s life is that countless people seem to think that they have a legitimate say about it. Those who were around him may have differing viewpoints, and while we can perhaps generally rely on many that coincide, the truth of it all will always remain with Michael himself. So, it is best to take this film with a pinch of salt. Having said that, Michael’s life was certainly full of drama. The depiction of his childhood is raw and difficult to watch, and throughout the film we are presented with a conflicting question: would Michael have risen to such stardom if it weren’t for his father? We’ll never know. Ultimately, Michael is an electrified telling of HIStory, hitting the mark for fans of his music but falling short of getting into the grittier parts of the Jackson legacy.