Michael

A Failure of the Arts.

written by

abe

This film is a complete disservice to Michael Jackson's achievements and history. It's boring, doesn't challenge the audience at all, and it tries to paint Michael Jackson as the most unchanging person of all time. _Michael_ isn't a Michael Jackson movie, it's a Michael Jackson PR move. The movie is made not to truly tell the story of how Michael had his start as a member of the Jackson 5 and become the "King of Pop", but instead the sanitized image the Jackson estate hopes becomes the main image of the man going further. There are sprinkles of moments where the audience learns about Jackson's method of making music, as he famously couldn't read or write music notes, but it happens all for two scenes. Excluding that and a couple of very short recording sessions, it's almost entirely made of performance recreations and odd moments to show Jackson has a pure soul & was always a good person. ALWAYS. Across a little over two hours of runtime, Jackson is not once shown in a negative light, in the wrong, or even making any mistakes. He becomes a christ like figure, one that befriends all who walks through his path, animal or not, and anything that Jackson does that the public as noted as being odd (like his aforementioned animal befriending or his enjoyment of things that are childish) as only...quirks...quirks that make him so innocent and lovable. Unintentional or not, it's showing of his mental struggles that the filmmakers clearly didn't want to approach with a foot long pole. Due to Jackson's lacking change as a character across the two hours, it leads to a very boring experience. Michael Jackson is an interesting person, especially to analyze how things in his first half of his life would lead to what most people know about the pop star in his second half. However, due to his near flanderization as a person, it leads to Jackson never truly being shown the true innovator he was for music. Although the film checked off the box of watching Jackson make a track technically, it would've been a million times more interesting to see him create a song in full. Seeing how it began to fill out, maybe working with his producers to get it all locked in, before finally hearing everything come through in the final mix. Something like that occurs in a montage of Jackson working on his "Thriller" album, but it's vapid, clearly meant to illustrate the whole album experience, and felt as though it could've been done to just show "OH MICHAEL JUST LOVED MAKING MUSIC!!!" What this leads then is for the audience being able to enjoy Michael's journey to becoming the best, or the performance recreations. The former is completely lackluster, with the closest we get to anything to struggle for Michael Jackson is breaking off from his father. Sparing that pretty boring section, Michael gets abused and...that's really it for struggles. People don't relate to Michael, but as well is shown to have a loving family sparing his father. He struggles to get his music videos on MTV, but it's all done in a single scene where it's also shown he got his way (maybe during the "Off the Wall" section, Michael tries to get a music video of his on the channel so a motivation is created for him to push even harder for MTV???). Michael never struggles with dancing or singing, nor is shown any mental anguish about the fame. What this leads to is a character I can't root for. Sure, I feel bad that he struggles with his father and the "Peter Pan syndrome" he clearly develops over time...but as well, he doesn't really struggle for any of his success or have any doubt about himself. Sure, eventually Michael gets the head burn, but again, Michael deals with it like it's someone who sneezed on him. A little bothered, but he acts all the same by the next section begins. Okay...what about the performance recreations? Don't waste your money nor use an A-List reservation if this is why you want to watch _Michael_. It's better to watch all those performances on YouTube, rather than the slow, clunky, no energy or style recreations the movie has. It doesn't even include the full performances of any tracks beyond a slightly shortened version of "Bad." Even _Bohemian Rhapsody_ had a better recreation of Queen's live performances compared to whatever this film has. This movie WILL gross some absurd amount just due to who it is about. Does that mean the film is suddenly good and the critics are wrong? Well, with that factor of numbers = success, that would mean 'Dance Monkey' by Tones and I is one of the best songs of modern history because it has over 3 billion streams on Spotify.

Michael

Michael

written by

🦢

Michael “Michael - 03/05” “se eu não estiver lá para receber essas ideias, Deus pode dá-las ao Prince” a proposta do filme não é ser um documentário. afinal, um documentário sobre o Michael pode ser facilmente feito. o filme é um show de performance para mostrar àqueles que não viveram o fenômeno que foi Michael Jackson quem ele foi e, para aqueles que viveram, não deixar esquecer o quão grande ele era. ninguém poderia ter interpretado o Michael tão bem quanto Jaafar Jackson; melhor que ele, só se fosse o próprio Michael Jackson fazendo o filme.

Michael

It’s whatever

written by

midvngxnce

Starting the month with Michael is definitely a choice. Watched with my mom in IMAX and for some reason she cried LOLL poor her. Frustrating movie, severe case of bad editing especially in the Billie Jean scene, like I’m no director but if I was Antoine I would do that scene shot for shot of the actual performance because that was so badly edited, if they had the balls, they should’ve just make it 5 minutes like the actual performance. There’s nothing unique, feels like every musical biopic (except Better Man, love that film) Feels like it’s adapted from wikipedia and has hype aura moments. Lack of depth which was so strange even MJ was like the best strange person around. I’ll stop dragging this movie down, it’s time for the positives. Jaafar looks so much like Mike, he’s very good in this. Miles got a big laugh from the audience and it’s nice that we became a little community. Doing the Leo pointing meme when they mentioned Springsteen, Beach Boys, Dylan and Lauper. The music goes so hard with the IMAX speakers especially Human Nature and Workin’ Day and Night (best scene of the film) Also why did they just used the instrumental of I Can’t Help It??? Thriller music video cool and a John Landis cameo. No Scorsese cameo :( Antoine kind of lacked the juice in this movie. Also the movie looks good. Oh yeah they didn’t address it Just go watch Better Man (2024)

Michael

offstage

written by

barb💭

há artistas que fazem sucesso, e há aqueles que atravessam gerações como se nunca fossem embora. michael jackson sempre me pareceu desse tipo raro, alguém que transformava som em acontecimento e presença em algo quase impossível de ignorar. ‘Michael’ me envolveu do início ao fim. mesmo conhecendo alguns capítulos de sua vida, ainda senti entusiasmo cada vez que uma canção surgia, como a construção se desenvolvia, algo de familiaridade das músicas reacendendo a sala de cinema. o filme funciona melhor quando entende que michael nunca foi apenas uma figura pública. existia o astro absoluto, o perfeccionista, o homem observado por todos e, ao mesmo tempo, alguém marcado por fragilidades difíceis de esconder — um humano preocupado em levar sua mensagem para todos, fazer as pessoas se sentirem ouvidas — essa contradição sempre fez parte do fascínio em torno dele, e a produção consegue captar parte disso sem transformá-lo em algo distante demais. jaafar é, sem dúvida, o centro de tudo. como ele consegue ser tão parecido? a forma como incorpora gestos, expressões e a energia corporal que tornavam michael tão ele. também achei importante que o filme não apagasse totalmente os aspectos mais desconfortáveis da trajetória familiar. a dureza de certas relações (a do pai em completo destaque) continua presente, especialmente quando poder, cobrança e interesse passam a ocupar o lugar do afeto e apoio. onde o longa mais perde força, para mim, é na pressa. há fases inteiras que mereciam mais cuidado, mais desenvolvimento e mais espaço para respirar. ainda assim, ver tudo isso no cinema acrescentou uma camada especial à experiência. havia pessoas de várias idades, fãs empolgados, comentários animados antes da sessão começar e aquela sensação coletiva de estar prestes a revisitar algo importante. não parecia somente uma estreia, era como se todos estivéssemos esperando o ressurgimento do michael em algum momento, ao vivo. e preciso admitir, ouvir essas músicas em caixas de cinema já teria valido a ida! quando entrou o solo de guitarra de ‘Beat It’, fiquei genuinamente feliz de um jeito completamente inesperado. sabe aquelas alegrias pequenas e sinceras que surgem sem aviso? me senti exatamente assim. não é um filme impecável, e na verdade nem precisava ser para funcionar comigo. sai da sala com nostalgia, entusiasmo e lembrando que algumas presenças continuam enormes mesmo na ausência. sai pensando mais nele como pessoa do que como artista, e isso meio que já diz muito. 𝗽𝘀: espero que a parte 2/continuação tenha a mesma essência e conforto que senti ao assistir esse filme. dito isso, the king is still with us.

Michael

Micheal Review

written by

lynchfan02

This film is surprisingly good However the cinematography is not very good lmao 😂 At least one of the actors did play the uncle very well I would recommend it however due to the stans being toxic with the film lately Probably not And Joe Jackson can rest in piss lmao 🤣 😂 Michael doesn't deserve this type of abuse at all 🥺

Michael

Through clenched teeth

written by

PHOENIX

The long-awaited biopic about Michael Jackson has finally been released, and despite the crap from so-called critics, it didn’t affect my desire to go to the theater at all. And you don’t regret it for a second. Michael is a vibrant and engaging film that focuses on the first half of the artist’s life. The performances, direction, costume design, and overall scale deliver exactly the kind of grandeur a story like this deserves. Special thanks to John Branca, Antoine Fuqua, and Jaafar Jackson for such a heartfelt adaptation. I’m really looking forward to the second part.

Michael

Um show e nao uma biografia

written by

julia raizer

real é mais um show de performance do que uma biografia em si, mas é sobre o michael então who cares?  Sem contar a passada de pano que passaram pada o pai dele rs. O que ja era de se esperar contando que a produção do filme é dos Jacksons, meus primos tbm nao colocariam meu pai como o cara que ele realmente foi pra mim Fora isso gosto muito da produção, jogo de cameras e o jaafar da um show a parte do elenco ele na linguagem popular SOME no papel e so vemos e sentimos a energia do michael ali confesso que muitas vezes me peguei cantando as musicas como se realmente eu estivesse no show cantando BAD e viver o maior trauma de infância de gerações que foi o clipe de thriller!!!!CARALJO QUE MENINO FODA’ Detalhes muito bem colocados AMO! obs : nossa jaafar 🫦

Michael

That was kinda meh

written by

PranavWatchesFilms

If this film didn’t have Michael Jackson’s music. This would’ve been an absolute snorefest. No hate to Jaafar Jackson or any of the other actors. This is on the writing. The story and the potential of what it could’ve been done… oh well we wait for the Beatles biopics in hope for a decent major film about musicians I suppose. Also, that chimp looked suspiciously AI…

Michael

OH MICHAEL YOU WILL ALWAYS BE THE MOST FAMOUS PERSON EVER!

written by

mand

tá… isso aqui realmente foi um presente para os fãs e eu terminei sem palavras. foi tudo o que eu imaginava e ainda ficaria sentada por mais 3h se isso me levasse a viver mais desse sentimento. mas ao mesmo tempo não posso fechar os olhos para a falta de alguns detalhes que eu acho que eram importantes serem relatados. primeiro, a questão da rinoplastia, que trataram como se fosse algo estético, ignorando toda a pressão e o bullying que existiam por trás (e achei que o filme aliviou bastante pro pai e pros irmãos nisso). também me incomodou essa insistência meio superficial na “obsessão” com os livros. aquela cena em que ele toca no nariz do peter pan (????). também senti MUITA falta de explorarem a importância da Diana Ross. ela foi essencial pra construção dele como artista, e simplesmente não existe no filme. desde o studio 54 até a fase em nova york, quando ele passa a conviver muito com ela, além de tudo que se conecta em The Wiz (inclusive o começo da relação com o Quincy Jones). parece que cortaram uma base inteira da trajetória dele. mas fora isso, que performance espetacular (!!!!) do Jaafar. tem um momento, em uma das cenas finais, em que deram um close nos olhos dele e eu realmente enxerguei o Michael ali. bizarro. uma coisa boba, mas o momento em que começou a introdução instrumental de I Can’t Help It eu fiquei TÃO feliz!! 😭 e, por favor, eu não poderia deixar de falar de JULIANO KRUE VALDI, menino INSANO meu Deus merece o mundo!!!!!!!

Michael

Michael: Fuqua fails (again)

written by

gabriel

If Michael proves anything, it’s that even the most mythologized figure in pop history can be flattened into something strangely inert. This is a film that confuses reverence with insight, spectacle with perspective, and ends up orbiting its subject without ever quite touching him. The problem isn’t just the now-familiar Bohemian Rhapsody-style assembly line (you can practically feel the ghost of Bohemian Rhapsody hovering over every montage). It’s that Antoine Fuqua seems fundamentally uninterested in contradiction. And Michael Jackson, of all people, is contradiction incarnate. Instead, we get a sequence of polished surfaces: trauma gestured at, genius asserted, controversy politely diffused. As Mark Kermode once said about another sanitized biopic, “it’s not that the film lies, it’s that it refuses to ask questions.” That line fits here a little too well. There are moments where the film almost breaks free. A rehearsal scene (clearly indebted to the fragmented immediacy of This Is It) briefly suggests a more tactile, process-driven portrait. But then it retreats, as if afraid of demystifying its own icon. Even the much-discussed “dance framing” philosophy (lifted from Jackson’s own interviews) is reduced to a decorative line rather than a structural principle. One can’t help but wonder whether Fuqua actually understands what he’s quoting. International reactions have been telling. French critics, particularly at Cahiers du Cinéma, have reportedly leaned into the idea that the film is “un objet sans regard”; an object without a gaze. In Brazil, some reviewers drew comparisons to the hollow prestige of late-stage Hollywood biopics, noting how the film “performs importance without earning it.” Meanwhile, a few American outlets were more forgiving, praising the central performance while sidestepping the film’s deeper evasions. And then there’s the tonal whiplash. The hospital scene between Michael and his mother plays like it wandered in from Good Will Hunting; a therapeutic crescendo that feels less like character development and more like emotional outsourcing. It’s effective in isolation, sure. But in context, it raises an uncomfortable question: why does a film about Michael Jackson need to borrow its most human moment from somewhere else? The deeper issue is structural. Dialogue rarely breathes; scenes are truncated just as they threaten to become interesting. It’s as if the film is afraid of duration; afraid that if it lingers, something messy or unresolved might emerge. And that’s precisely what a biopic like this should embrace. As Pauline Kael famously argued, great films aren’t about control, but about what escapes it. What’s left, then, is a film that is entertaining, but fundamentally hollow. A museum piece masquerading as a character study. A global icon reduced to a sequence of highlights, carefully curated and quietly defanged. In trying so hard to protect the legend, Michael forgets to observe the man. And without observation; without that elusive, uncomfortable, bioptic gaze: it’s all just choreography without weight.