Michael Jackson was a god. Just not my god. By the time I was old enough to understand pop music, Jackson was already the king of pop. Once I was able to form opinions about pop music, Jackson’s reputation had been littered with controversies, endlessly parodied by schoolchildren and South Park alike. Before I was able to reach adulthood, Jackson had passed away. Thus, my perception of Michael Jackson has always been “historical”. I knew the myths, so with the announcement of the Michael Jackson biopic starring the literal nephew of the King of Pop himself! Well, let’s say I was mixed. On one hand, I would love to explore the deeper complexities of this very controversial figure. But with a biopic produced by most of the surviving Jackson family, there was a concern that the family might… “sand down” the edges of his life, or try to re-write history, as so many other biopics have. What we got was, frankly, a best-of compilation featuring someone who, while very talented, is simply not the real thing. 

Directed by Antoine Fuqua, Michael (2026 and soon to be retroactively called Michael Part 1) follows the, I guess, first half of Michael Jackson’s, played by real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson, life and career as a rising pop superstar. The film depicts Jackson’s youth, growing up with the Jackson 5 under the intense management of Joseph Jackson, played by Colman Domingo, up to the release of Jackson’s 1987 album Bad! We see all the highlights, ABC being performed on Ed Sullivan, Joe Jackson abusing his children, Michael getting Bubbles the chimpanzee, Thriller music video, the Pepsi commercial, etc. Overall, a very straightforward highlight reel, with some big moments that feel scientifically designed to make you tap your foot. 

Let’s get one thing straight: the music performances are the best part of the film. Stunning choreography, immaculate mixing, and wonderful performances. The concert scenes feel big, even with the very mediocre CGI, showcasing the sheer mania of Jackson’s popularity. Also, to just be frank, the music is a good time. If you’re not grooving through most of this film, then you probably don’t have a pulse. 

The film is relentless with its soundtrack, constantly throwing track after track at you. If the pacing began to slow down to either develop a character or highlight some kind of dramatic moment, it would soon be undercut or interrupted by either the next song to be released in the timeline or some other track by or associated with the Jacksons. At first, you figure they’re just trying to speed things up, get through the discography quickly to get to the real story, but then they just keep playing more songs. You quickly realize that the point of this film might be to just vibe out to some classic pop music, which isn’t the worst time. Unfortunately, it invokes the feeling of watching Michael Jackson highlights on YouTube, except in this case, without Michael Jackson.

That being said, Jaafar Jackson does deserve his flowers for his performance. Jaafar nails the physicality, completely transforming into his uncle through rhythm and dance. While I’m not sure I love his acting, I think most of my issues with his performance come from the script he had to work with, as his best moments were usually physical actions or body language. On the flip side, Coleman Domingo delivers a rather “interesting” performance as Joseph Jackson, Michael’s father and personal manager for the early portions of his career. Joseph Jackson is an extremely aggressive parent who uses physical violence and intimidation to motivate and manipulate his children, especially Michael, into performing to his specific standards. Domingo occasionally comes off as the cliche overbearing bad parent, with many scenes depicting him physically spanking his children with a belt. Surprisingly, the film also tries to lightly redeem him by providing moments where Joseph speaks a lot about family, being focused on hard work, and even having a confusing moment where you’re not sure if he’s actually sympathetic to his son or just trying to get more work out of him. It’s an interesting choice that I’m not sure works either way in making me despise or retroactively respect the actions of Joe Jackson.

Aside from those two characters, it’s tough to say much more about any other performances due to the lack of any other characters.  Nia Long portrays Katherine Jackson, Michael’s mother, who does a fine job of fulfilling the classic, ever-loving, eternally supportive mom that gives Michael the love and support he needs. She gets one scene to do anything of real note, and I’m not even sure it’s worth mentioning. The rest of the Jackson family are barely characters with very little to do but dance and sing. KeiLyn Durrel Jones plays Bill Bray, Michael’s security and confidant, who exists to basically make facial reactions during pivotal scenes. Kendrick Sampson plays Quincy Jones for like 4 minutes? Miles Teller plays John Branca, and he’s important to the story, I guess? Wait, Mike Myers is in this??? To be fair, Myers does get the best scene of all the actors in this paragraph, and repeats 2 Myers-isms. 1. Mike Myers makes a surprisingly great cameo performance where he seemingly doesn’t belong (Inglorious Bastards). 2. Mike Myers plays a studio executive who does a bizarre move to help the musicians of the film (Bohemian Rhapsody).

Speaking of Oscar-winning films, Michael feels straight out of the same playbook as the aforementioned 2019 winner for Best Achievement in Film Editing. A safe, enjoyable, song-ridden biographic film about a beloved music icon, with “creative” recreations of things I’ve seen a million times. Visually, the film is kind of lackluster, the editing is standard, and, as previously mentioned, the CGI isn’t great. It’s not distracting, but it is obvious. 

I know this will sound harsh, but to be blunt, you can get the same level of enjoyment from reading a Wikipedia article and watching videos on YouTube. As the film came to the end and the words, “His Story Continues”, came on screen, I was teleported back two years ago to my first screening of Wicked, where I quickly realized that this was the setup film. Characters are not “underdeveloped”; they are simply placeholders so they can be important in the next film.
Michael turns out it wasn’t much of a Thriller, but I wouldn’t exactly call the film Bad. The main factor here is that by the end, the film lacks any real reason to exist besides setting up a sequel, where things get really Off The Wall. If you love the music, I would advise paying for a month of Tidal over seeing this. If you want to learn “the lore” of the King of Pop, I’m not sure Michael would be my first or second recommendation. 

2 out of 5 stars.

I could have done all of this at home and at least got to see the REAL Michael Jackson perform.

Directed by Antoine Fuqua, Michael (2026 and soon to be retroactively called Michael Part 1) follows the, I guess, first half of Michael Jackson’s, played by real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson, life and career as a rising pop superstar. The film depicts Jackson’s youth, growing up with the Jackson 5 under the intense management of Joseph Jackson, played by Colman Domingo, up to the release of Jackson’s 1987 album Bad! Starring Nia Long, Miles Teller, and Mike Myers, the film is produced by Lionsgate, GK Films, and Universal Pictures. Michael (soon to be known as Michael pt 1) premieres in theatres on April 24.