If there is one movie this year that will have the most obnoxious divide between critics and general audiences it might be Michael. In 2018 people were split on Bohemian Rhapsody, and now we have the Michael Jackson biopic, a movie I'd say is definitely better than its Queen counterpart but still fails to reach the heights of its subject. People are going to love this, and I can understand why, but there are a ton of things holding it back.
If you're living under a rock, Michael tells the story of the meteoric rise of Michael Jackson from child star to living legend. Much of the film centers on the relationship between Michael and his controlling father/manager Joseph Jackson (Colman Domingo), cumulating to Michael going solo in the mid-80s. The film was original intended to be two parts and focus partly on the controversy surrounding Michael's sexual abuse allegations. All references to the allegations had to be cut due to a clause that came out from a settlement with one of the accusers, so the film had to be rewritten and the end result is what we have today, with the potential for another film to continue the story.
To start with positives, Jaafar Jackson is phenomenal in the leading role. He is Michael's nephew in real life so he naturally looks at least somewhat similar, but there are moments where the resemblance is uncanny. He does a remarkable job imitating Michael's very singular vocal mannerisms, but what wowed me most was his command of the screen as a performer. The vocals are reportedly a mix of Jaafar's and recordings of Michael, but the dancing is all Jaafar and that's where I was the most wowed. His performance doesn't get the chance to reach too much emotional depth, but his physical performance is something truly special. I also thought Juliano Krue Valdi was a delight as a young Michael, and he honestly dug into the pain from his father even more than his adult counterpart.
Visually I have no complaints. The film is directed by Antoine Fuqua who is a more than capable filmmaker, and the way he brings some iconic moments of Jackson's career to life is electric. There are points where he really makes Michael feel like a mythological figure, but they are juxtaposed with quiet moments with young fans that humanize him in a really beautiful way. I also loved a lot of the supporting cast. Not too many get much time to shine, but I thought the brothers and his mother played by Nia Long brought a lot of comfort, as did KeiLyn Durrel Jones as his bodyguard and Miles Teller as his manager.
Unfortunately the supporting cast is also where one of my problems with the film arises. Colman Domingo is one of my favourite actors working today, but he is done no favours here. He does a great job filling the shoes of a domineering father, but the hair and makeup team did way too much in trying to make him look like Joseph Jackson and the end result is a portrayal that feels almost cartoonish. Joseph doesn't feel like a real person but rather an over the top villain, leaving little room for nuance.
Domingo isn't helped by the script either, as it does a lot to undercut the weight of his performance. Aside from a major burn accident late in the film, the only thing ever getting in Michael's way is Joseph, but the film doesn't explore their dynamic nearly enough to make it feel meaningful. Joseph is constantly lingering as an obstacle, but aside from the ending there is little real conflict between the two shown on screen. Aside from Joseph's involvement there are seemingly no bumps along the road to stardom, and while I don't know everything about Michael's career I highly doubt that's the case.
This film clocks in at just over two hours, which obviously isn't short, but in a world where films of this ilk can soar to two and a half hours with ease, I think we just needed more here. I went in wanting to feel something, and early on I did, but the way the story avoids much of any struggle for Michael leaves the end result feeling more like a commercial for Michael Jackson music than a film with any weight. You can easily get swept up in the music and Jaafar's performance, but the film itself leaves you with little to nothing to chew on aside from Michael standing up to his father. For a figure this iconic, things should feel epic, and Fuqua just never manages to get there.
Aside from the flaws in storytelling, there are also points where the filmmaking fails to live up to its subject. There are a ton of great visual moments, but there are also points where the dialogue doesn't sync up. This isn't something I'd typically harp on, but it happens multiple times and for a film with this large of a budget that's something that shouldn't be so noticable. There is also a CGI chimp that I thought looked pretty weak considering the budget, and it happens to show up in the same scene as one of the worst instances of the sync issues. The editing for the most part is fine, but there are a few moments that suffer from cutting way too quick and feeling messy.
Like I said in the opening, I can easily understand why people are going to love this. It feels at times like Michael has been brought back to life with Jaafar's performance, and the music is obviously remarkable. If this came out before Bohemian Rhapsody and the music biopic boom that followed, I can easily see the Rotten Tomatoes score being higher. That isn't the case though, as we live in a world where these types of movies are pumped out year after year without doing much of anything to separate themselves cinematically (aside from turning Robbie Williams into a monkey in Better Man). I was enjoying this a lot early on, but by the end I wound up feeling next to nothing due to a story that avoids most of the hardships on Michael's rise to fame. 2.5/5
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