"This Is It" for Michael Jackson

By Brittany Benjamin

I have a confession to make. I have always been a Michael Jackson fan.

One of my earliest memories as a kid was standing in the doorway of my brother's room, watching him fumble with switches on his stereo in order to play the intro of "Black or White" on repeat.

Even when it became uncool to like Michael, I listened to his music in secret. In high school I got caught with his greatest hits CD playing in my Walkman. I was subsequently teased for liking a "pervert" in the midst of the media firestorm when Michael was on trial for molestation and holding babies over balconies.

Now -- let's all be honest -- Michael was weird. He had his share of problems. Nobody will refute that. But can you really blame him when he started performing in kindergarten and was the lead vocalist for The Jackson 5 checked by age eight?

Regardless, I have always loved Michael's music and will continue to love it until the day I die.

That's why it seems weird -- and more than a little morbid -- to be reviewing a movie made after his death, which includes footage that was never intended for public eyes.

The footage was meant for Michael's private library after being used in the rehearsal process for Michael's "This Is It" concert series, 50 shows at London's O2 Arena.

The concert was scheduled to begin July 13, 2009.

Michael died June 25.

Following an overwhelming fan response, Kenny Ortega, the director of the concert, decided to release the footage in a documentary for only two weeks -- now extended through Thanksgiving -- allowing fans to see the concert that never was.

I'll admit I was one overly hyped fan. I bought an advance-screening ticket to see the IMAX version of the film. I started counting down the days till I could redeem said ticket.

Finally the day came.

The feeling of walking into the theatre was something I've never experienced before. I immediately noticed the wide spectrum of audience members, who aged from tweens to mid-sixties. Michael's musical reach became obvious. One group of teenagers was playing Michael's "Thriller" album through their cell phones, although they weren't even alive for its original release.

Nobody else minded the background music.

Before the movie started, I didn't know what to expect. He was fifty years old and there were rumors that Michael was in "delicate condition" before his death.

Thus, I feared that I might have wasted my money to witness the all-too familiar story of a washed-up performer, pushed past his prime, who struggled to hit the same high notes he once did and now moonwalked with the assistance of a cane.

The first song of the film, "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" seemed to confirm these fears. Michael was having difficulty keeping pace with his backup dancers and missing cues on his own lyrics. In a word, he looked delicate.

I wasn't looking forward to the next two hours.

Just as I was beginning to lose hope, my faith was revived by "They Don't Care About Us" and "Smooth Criminal." Each song features pretty nifty technical aspects that make both songs a standout in the film and what would have been the concert. "They Don't Care About Us" features ten backup dancers in costume, who are CGIed in order to create a dancing army of a million that projects on a screen behind the live stage performers, also dressed as soldiers. Naturally, The King of Pop leads the army.

However, the effects were trumped by a behind-the-scenes clip of Michael mentoring these backup dancers in efforts to perfect their moves.

In that moment, a soft, human side of Michael emerged, which was far removed from the deranged and creepy image the media often painted of Michael during his life.

This is the one aspect of the documentary that really shines -- its ability to capture Michael the way he truly was.

It was evident that Michael was a perfectionist; during the rehearsals, he often stopped his band mid-song in order to address something that was not up to his lofty standards.

He also comes across as a kid trapped in an adult body.

After Ortega coerces Michael into testing the cherry picker to be used in the concert, the director admonishes Michael for not holding on to the railing. Meanwhile, Michael insists that he wants to go higher.

"Smooth Criminal" was my favorite song of the film. The song featured old-time black and white footage from a 1950s detective mystery that played on the background screen, in which Michael plays an on-the-run criminal.

It was during songs like "They Don't Care About Us" and "Smooth Criminal" that Michael proved that he still has the moves and the lungs. Sure, he doesn't have the flexibility or the range he once had in his prime, and his performance of "Billy Jean" is nowhere close to the original, but he was still busting out moves that nobody will ever be able to recreate.

Cut the man a break. If I can move that well at 50, I'll consider it a miracle.

In terms of the film, Michael fans will find it exactly to their liking. They get a glimpse of the man behind the music, as he performs his most popular hits from his solo career and his days as a member of The Jackson 5.

As for those less-than-die-hard fans, they might find the two-hour documentary long in places, as Michael is never opposed to dragging out the end of a musical number with vocal embellishments. The embellishments get rather repetitive and you find yourself secretly wishing he'd just end a song and move on to the next one.

But the King of Pop does what he wants.

In the end, the movie is an intriguing look into a man that confused and entertained people around the world. As the curtain falls, it leaves us wondering what could have been.

Grade: B+

Contact Brittany Benjamin at bbenjamin@scu.edu at (408) 554-1918.