SMT Weekly Flick by Paul Krismanits
Jackson Returns
Michael Jackson’s This is It (Rated PG) 111 mins
This summer my wife and I were driving across the country from North Carolina to California. When we were beginning our final day of travel we were coming out of Palm Springs and heading toward Los Angeles when we found a radio station that was playing nothing but Michael Jackson music. We left it on, and the music prompted a discussion about the man. We talked about how odd his last years had been, and how much of that oddness stemmed from the sad family life he lived as a child. About thirty minutes into our conversation, the DJ announced the reason for the string of MJ tunes; Michael had just been found dead in his house. A sad fate for a sad man.
This weekend opened Michael Jackson’s This is It, and it proves to be a fitting tribute toward what MJ should be remembered for; his ability to mesmerize. I realize that most celebrities get little sympathy from the general public because they are rich, famous, and usually beautiful, so what do they have to complain about? It doesn’t help that many of them hurt their cause even further by being fairly pompous and arrogant. As a result of these things combined, most celebrities are given little sympathy, whether fairly or unfairly, and in my experience Michael Jackson was included in the negative thinking. It was obvious the guy had problems, especially in his personal life, and unfortunately that began to overshadow the amazing things he had accomplished during his career. This is It reminds us of those things, and its honest approach should change many of the preconceived notions we had of the man as an individual. I know it changed mine.
At a glance, This is It is merely the edited 120 hours of extra behind-the-scenes footage that was taken leading up to Jackson’s latest comeback tour. But what we see and learn is so much more than that. We know now that in Jackson’s final days he was loaded up with enough prescription drugs to stun a yak, but he amazingly never shows any signs of influence. Forget seeing a sunken soul that struggles to catch his breath through energetic dance routines, Jackson leads the charge. Far from being a puppet controlled by his directors or agents, Jackson is in full control of everything he and the show around him does. He is sharp and he is prepared, everything opposite of what the tabloids would have had us believe about the man. This is It shows Jackson at his finest, and it reveals to us just how much music enlivened the man. More so than any drug ever could have.
If anything, This is It serves as a telling example as to why the untimely death of Jackson affected so many so deeply. Jackson never snaps at his coworkers or berates a dancer out of step. He was always respectful to those around him, always courteous (an example Christian Bale could learn from). He was a master showman, but also a caring human being. Jackson never shows any signs of being caught up in his own legend here, instead he shows a desire for perfection, the need to give his audience a wonderful show. In This is It we see an established legend that works as hard at age 50 as those trying to break into show business in their young years. It is an admirable quality which many do not possess. When it came to giving his fans their money’s worth, Jackson rarely disappointed, and now we know why.
Along with getting a very personal glimpse of Jackson at work, This is It shows plenty of the full rehearsal for the show, and through this we get a good idea of what his final concert would have been life. It is a doozy. Jackson’s ability to dance and his spot-on choreography are dazzling. His flair for the theatrical is astounding. I have personally never seen a show that would have rivaled this one, and I believe most would agree. By the time This is It had ended, I had forgotten all the personal troubles that plagued Jackson in his later years. Instead I suddenly felt his loss, and I walked away with a new appreciation for the man and his career. I hope you do the same.
SCORE: 4.5/5 stars
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