Michael Review
There has been a wave of musical biopics, ranging from the likes of the Academy Award-winning Bohemian Rhapsody, and it’s safe to say a lot of them end up feeling the same. There’s Rocketman, which has been claimed as one of the better musical biopics, and most recently Better Man, which stands out from the rest thanks to Robbie Williams being a CGI monkey. With all the artists getting their own musical biopics, it’s about time that the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, finally got his own, simply titled Michael.
Michael Jackson is widely known for his industry-changing songs and the effect he had on his fans worldwide. It all didn’t come easy to him, as he had a difficult childhood and has had a controversial life, but how does Antoine Fuqua handle all of this in Michael, and with the third-act rewrites, does this musical biopic live up to Michael Jackson’s legacy?
Michael follows Michael Jackson (Jaafar Jackson) as we watch his discovery from within the Jackson Five to the visionary artist he then became, as the movie highlights his life away from the stage and his iconic performances on the stage as we go on a journey in the early chapters of his career. As soon as the film opens, you realise that you’re in for a great time with the soundtrack as you immediately find yourself finger-tapping, which is something you’ll find yourself doing throughout the movie.
There was a major risk in making this movie, and that risk came in the form of misunderstanding the man that was Michael Jackson, but thankfully, Antoine Fuqua and everyone on board showcase that they’re not just here to create another musical biopic but to create a love letter to Michael Jackson and his fans. The love, dedication, and passion seep through the screen and create an electric and heartbreaking cinematic experience.
Within roughly the first 20 minutes, we follow a young Michael Jackson played by Juliano Krue Valdi as his father Joe Jackson (Colman Domingo) tries to get him and his brothers in order. Preparing them to become young stars. It’s the small mannerisms that Krue Valdi has in his performance as a young Michael Jackson that stand out and carry forward into the film when Jaafar takes over. From the continuous moving when singing to struggling to keep eye contact with his father when he demands to go out.
It’s shown that out of all his brothers, he was the one who spoke up the most, and this led to the harsh abuse that Michael Jackson received. Juliano Krue Valdi’s vocals will send you through the roof, but his performance is what keeps you drawn to the story. It’s heartwrenching to see a child ripped from his childhood and alienated from kids his age, and Krue Valdi strongly gets that across, and it’s because of him that the script works so well with its second and third acts and that Jaafar Jackson can deliver the performance that he does.
There are many reasons why this movie was such a risk to be made. It’s being handled by the estate; Antoine Fuqua, who doesn’t usually deal with movies of this genre/scale, was helming it and was being led by Michael Jackson’s nephew, Jaafar Jackson, who had never acted before this. It was a recipe for disaster, but Fuqua and Jaafar proved everybody wrong. Fuqua takes John Logan’s script and is able to bring to life an entertaining and fun movie that’s not only full of soul and heart but also really takes the time to focus on the scrutinising and abusive relationship that Michael Jackson had with his father.
Colman Domingo arguably gives one of his best performances yet alongside Sing Sing with a visceral and raw look into Joe Jackson. He’s an abusive monster that makes your heart drop into your stomach anytime he’s on screen. A manipulative man who was so certain that he was doing what was best for his sons, at times, Domingo’s terrifying, unsettling performance leads you to dive into his head and believe that maybe he is doing what’s right for them, while also allowing you to feel distraught and heartbroken with how Michael was treated over the years.
For Jaafar Jackson’s debut acting role, he takes on the role of Michael Jackson and takes it all the way to the stars. He’s absolutely unbelievable as Michael, and there isn’t anyone else who could’ve displayed the physicality and soul of Michael Jackson as Jaafar did. There are scenes, specifically when Michael first meets John Branca (Miles Teller), where he looks almost identical to his uncle, and it can be quite scary with how uncanny it is. It felt like I was watching Michael Jackson on the screen instead of Jaafar when he took to the screen to perform with Michael’s iconic moves and his outstanding vocals that make you want to get up and dance in the middle of the cinema.
While Jaafar Jackson and Colman Domingo give standout performances that easily help Michael differentiate itself from all the musical biopics that came before it. The highlight has to come from its musical sequences. It feels like Fuqua and the choreographers, set designers and costume designers put their sweat, blood and tears into recreating these moments in his life from “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough”, “Thriller”, “Human Nature”, “Beat It” and “Bad”. While I wasn’t around to attend a Michael Jackson concert in life, this felt like the closest that I’d be able to get.
The film easily falls into the tropes of almost every musical biopic, but Antoine Fuqua does such a magnificent job bringing John Logan’s script to life and highlighting how Michael, while the most famous person on the planet and only growing more famous, was also drowning in loneliness and suffered from years of abuse and hardship, which he struggled to cut away.
It has its shining moments that make your feet tap like Michael’s, and it has its brutal, hardcore emotional beats that will have you tear up. Despite the third act running into some issues with pacing due to the rewrites that took place from having to cut the original third act, it leaves you wanting more, and Fuqua manages to keep the film balanced with all its story beats and emotions. It goes without saying that Michael is not only one of the best musical biopics we’ve got in recent years, but also one of the best biopics and films, period.
★★★★ 1/2
In cinemas April 22nd / Jaafar Jackson, Colman Domingo, Nia Long, Kendrick Sampson, Juliano Krue Valdi, Miles Teller / Dir. Antoine Fuqua / Universal Pictures / 12A
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