When Michael Jackson died, the world was speechless. A legend was taken right as he was about to mount a comeback, 50 sold out shows in a row in London. This was to be his reemergence, something that would shake what we thought of the King of Pop and what he was capable of. In the movie highlighting those plans titled This Is It, we get to see the behind the scenes footage of what Jackson had in store to wow the world. Sadly, the result is a head-scratcher. When someone so beloved is dead, we try to leave their memory in peace and remember them at their best. This Is It does not paint a picture of anything except AEG, the tour’s promoter, which comes off as greedy.
The film feels rushed to cash in on Jackson’s resurgence in popularity, and it’s sad to watch someone so hungry to reclaim what he had lost over the years. Through the changes in what the public thinks is cool and the sex scandals, Jackson remained mythic in that at one time, he was the biggest star on earth. This tour was to be his moment to let the world know he was back and ready to reclaim his throne. This is it paints a vivid picture of what could have been, but should have remained in the vaults of good taste. Tthe odd moments of seeing Jackson performing in his pajamas or making little jokes that aren’t funny show how vulnerable and obsessive Michael Jackson actually was just days before his death. Yes, at 51 years old he could out sing and out dance just about anyone, but at what cost?
This Is It has no purely ethereal moment like in Nirvana’s Unplugged where Kurt Cobain looks into the face of his demons as he’s about to belt out the last notes of “Where Did You Sleep Last Night,” or when Paul McCartney is at a loss for words when describing John Lennon in The Beatles Anthology. There were no points of the film where the haunting tone of the piece gave you chills; if anything it made you sick.
The highlights are few amongst a sea of sound checks or weird moments that make the viewer fell downright uncomfortable. Seeing moments where some backup dancers cheer and holler as they watch him glide around stage to the hits of the past was genuinely endearing. Seeing the man who reinvented dancing with the moonwalk goof around with some new steps was a cool moment captured on film. He still had his moves. His vocals, on the other hand were something he obviously was concerned about.
The voice was rough, and there were very few moments where you get to see where he truly was vocally before his death. You get a small taste, but nothing more than a tease where he riffs back and forth with a backup singer and regrets doing so instantly. As the movie shows bits and pieces of what the set list was going to be, the audience is led to believe that “Billie Jean” is going to be the part of the movie where everything comes together and it just crushes you. The moment was anything but crushing. Michael is shown messing up words to the song that sent him into the stratosphere. It was a battle to watch and not feel like asking yourself, “Wait, this is it?”
This Is It hints that the show could have been was something wonderful, but the ultimately it comes off as a tacky move by someone trying to recoup financial losses. Michael Jackson was a giant of music, not a hokey Imax experience.
