Michael info:
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Writer: John Logan
Starring: Jaafar Jackson, Nia Long, Colman Domingo, and Miles Teller
Intro
Hello and welcome to another week here at 1guysmindlessmoviereviews.com. Some weeks I have more free time than others. Then I have weeks like this one, when we have something planned or sports activities almost every evening. But that didn’t stop me from doing my due diligence and going to see a late-night movie. I’m passionate about keeping this website updated so it doesn’t feel like a chore.
This week’s choice (and only late option) is “Michael”. Not the John Travolta film from 1996, but the new one about the early life of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. Before I slip up and say anything else, let me get the required spoiler warning out of the way. If you haven’t seen this yet and don’t want to know how the movie portrays the titular character, then I would go back to my homepage and see what other reviews I have in store for you.
Michael recap
“Michael” starts way back in the very beginning, before the Jackson 5 were ever known. The patriarch of the family, Joseph Jackson (Domingo), had his five boys rehearsing every night and even prioritizing that over school. It’s clear that he is not only very demanding but also abusive if they don’t fall in line. Even though his wife, Katherine (Long), doesn’t agree, she goes along with it. He pushes them to start playing public shows and never seems happy, even as they start showing signs of success.
Michael was always the main singer in the band, both as a young boy (played by Juliano Valdi) and a young man (Jackson). As they quickly become famous and start to make records, we get a few time jumps all the way until Michael wants to make his first solo album. Unfortunately, Joseph still runs the Jackson family like a business, so he has to work extra (and after) hours to make that happen.
Once his first solo album becomes a huge success, he is ready to go out fully on his own, even though Joseph just wants to capitalize on him. Eventually, he hires a lawyer, John Branca (Teller), to handle all of his affairs moving forward. Between the strain he feels at home and his growing dislike for his appearance (that included a nose job or two), he still finds time to write and record “Thriller,” which was his biggest-selling album and shot him to the very top of every chart.
Even though he doesn’t want to, he agrees to one more tour with the Jackson 5, then calls it quits. His bodyguard, Bill (KeiLyn Durrel Jones), goes with him and has been by his side the entire time. Even though the accident that landed him in the hospital for weeks after the accident. The film ends with him onstage after he released “Bad” and is at the top of the music world.
My thoughts on Michael
It seems like about once a year, a big music biopic is released. Most times, they are enjoyable enough if you are already a fan of their music. But it also depends on how the movie was filmed and what story it’s trying to tell. In this case, Director Antoine Fuqua followed the pattern that I like. I like to see more of the artist’s backstory and some of the work they put into making some of the songs.
This movie gave me that, but nothing more. It methodically worked its way through the story, never staying on one part too long. So, it followed a good format, but for some reason, I still left feeling like something was missing. Maybe since he was so famous, I had already heard about a lot of this… not sure. It was sad to see his childhood taken from him and how it affected him when he was older, making friends.
But “Michael” also focused a big portion of the movie on his family life. He literally lived in a big mansion with his parents and all his siblings until much later in his career. I also found it interesting that not all of his brothers and sisters were in the movie. I did some reading later and found out that they wanted to be left out.
The acting was very good by both Domingo and Long. But I am still astonished by how much Jackson looks like his uncle. Yes, if you didn’t know by now, Michael was played by his older brother’s son, Jaafar. So, there should be at least some similarity in there, I guess. He still brought some acting chops to the role, and not just looks, which is nice.
Overall, this was a good biopic, but a little too much of the information that I already knew, so I didn’t have any moments that really wowed me. This isn’t a knock on the people who made it, more so my own mindless way of observing movies. In the end, it was solid enough to earn a 7 out of 10.
Watch or wait?
Well, like any musical biopic, I think this is going to be up to the individual’s taste in Michael’s music and/or career. If you are a huge Michael Jackson fan, then I’m sure you were there day one. If not, then you may want to wait a bit longer and catch it on a streaming service down the road. These sorts of movies aren’t for everyone.
Ok, that’s it for me this week. That means it’s your turn now. Have you seen “Michael” yet? If so, what are your thoughts? Are you typically a fan of music biopics? Where would you rank this out of some of the other ones you like? Let me know in the comments, and I will be back next week with another mindless movie review of some sort.
