Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson's This Is It

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Rated PG for some suggestive choreography and scary images

Length: 121 minutes

Released: October 28, 2009 Nationwide

Score: 3.5

Cast: Michael Jackson, Orianthi

Director: Kenny Ortega
Producer: Paul Gongaware, Randy Phillips, Kenny Ortega
Genre: Documentary, Musical
Distributor: Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures

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It’s strange how, in death, Michael Jackson is getting the respect that eluded him the last several years of his life. Regardless of the personal travails that dogged and essentially ruined his music career, Jackson is now obtaining what’s been missing for a while — the acclaim of being a truly superb artist instead of a troubled celebrity.

And with his memory still fresh in our minds, “Michael Jackson: This Is It,” now in theaters, is a reminder of just how spectacular of a performer he was.

“This Is It” has several stunning performance moments of Jackson rehearsing for his comeback tour — behind-the-scenes (and sometimes blurry) footage taken shortly before his death. Though hardly a definitive piece of work on Jackson as an artist and barely a hint of what he was like as a person, “This Is It” will serve to satisfy most Jackson fans nonetheless.

It gives them what they want: his hits done in a remarkable way, whether it’s through his signature dance moves or in that larger-than-life way he made his songs into overblown, cinematic events. (A new “Thriller” video is shown in the making, putting it on par with “Pirates of the Caribbean” for its makeup and costumes.)

Jackson’s celebrity status certainly overshadowed his importance as a pop music icon as he neared the age of 50. But seeing and hearing Jackson during “This Is It” brings us back to why he will be missed so fondly.

Done here, “Human Nature,” a mid-tempo hit from “Thriller,” displays what a wonderful singer Jackson was, backed by his ability to find the raw emotion of a number. “They Don’t Care About Us” is a stomping anthem that reveals a deeply seeded anger in Jackson. “The Way You Make Me Feel” gets a nice reworking here with a jazzy intro that builds into the familiar radio version.

If you want to understand Jackson better, maybe comprehend why his life went so far off track, “This Is It” will not give you any clues. Close-up shots of him reveal a man who did not look well — painfully thin and sickly. On stage, though, he was none of that. Jackson came to life in rehearsals.

“This Is It” also makes a case of Jackson as a perfectionist who knew the importance of collaboration. Maybe it’s how selective the edited footage turned out to be, but Jackson shows no signs of a superstar ego as he rehearses. Foremost, he just wanted to get the songs served to their upmost.

For fans who want to merely refocus on Jackson as one of pop music’s masters, “This Is It” will not disappoint.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel
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