Michael Jackson

To talk about the biopic "Michael", let's start with two telling numbers: 38% and 97%. These are the approval ratings the film received from critics and from audiences respectively on Rotten Tomatoes, the most famous online aggregator of film and TV reviews. On Metacritic, another site much frequented by film buffs, the situation is similar, with an average score of 39 from critics and 79 from viewers. Given such a clear divergence in judgment, who's right? We can say, in Pilate-like fashion, both of them, because the expectations each side brings to the film are completely different. But before getting into the judgments, let's take a step back. The film "Michael" retraces twenty-two years of history, from 1966 to 1988, in which Jackson goes from child prodigy of a humble family from Gary to global superstar living on a sprawling ranch in Santa Barbara County. Director Antoine Fuqua and screenwriter John Logan choose, as the film's guiding thread, the Oedipal clash between the domineering father Joseph and the victimized son Michael.

The film opens with the young singer forced to rehearse songs and choreography every day until late at night. Every time Michael flubs a line or a dance step, his father violently whips him with his belt. Joseph tolerates no weakness, no delay to his plan for glory. "In this life you're either a winner or a loser," he repeats relentlessly to his children. The Jackson 5 perform for months in run-down clubs, until the fortunate encounter with Motown's Suzanne De Passe, who is instantly struck by the group's talent. Label boss Berry Gordy takes the boys under his wing and turns them into stars, thanks to Michael's extraordinary talent.
From here on, the film quickly runs through the key events of the American artist's career: the meeting with Quincy Jones, the unforgettable videos, the awards, the stadium tours. The biopic also shows the singer's loneliness, his love of animals, his charity work for children, the terrible accident that occurred while filming the Pepsi commercial. "Michael" ends during the years of the "Bad" tour, when the King of Pop finally manages to free himself from his father's overbearing presence and become fully independent.

Originally, the biopic was meant to end in 1993, showing the police investigation at Neverland and the first abuse allegations raised by Jordan Chandler. The production was forced to cut this section entirely and stop the narrative at the London leg of the 1988 Bad World Tour, due to a complex legal issue. During post-production, Lionsgate's lawyers (the company that produced the film) realized that the terms of the 1994 financial settlement between Jackson's lawyers and the Chandler family prevented Jordan Chandler from being included or even mentioned as a character in the film. As a result, the production had to scrap all the footage already shot covering 1993 in order to avoid serious legal repercussions. The director had to carry out 22 days of additional filming and make heavy cuts to reshape the ending, stopping at the end of the 1980s.
Right from the closing credits, the line "His story continues" confirmed that the cut material and Jackson's difficult 1990s will be addressed in a second film, thereby also helping to offset the high production costs.

The critics are absolutely right about a screenplay that isn't always up to the task of portraying a "larger than life" figure like Michael Jackson. John Logan (a three-time Oscar nominee) moves with excessive ease from one period of Jackson's life to another, leaving two time gaps, from 1970 to 1978 and from 1984 to 1988. We understand it's impossible to tell Jackson's story in two hours, but these "jumps" prevent us from grasping some crucial turning points in his personal and artistic life. Antoine Fuqua's direction (known for action films like "Training Day" and "The Equalizer") lacks any particular spark and doesn't dig very deep into such a complex, multifaceted personality as that of the King of Pop.
Even the relationships with his brothers, reduced to little more than background presences, are barely sketched out, not to mention the total absence (for legal reasons) of two key figures such as Diana Ross and Janet Jackson.

And yet, despite the shortcomings of the screenplay and direction, "Michael" works remarkably well. That's why audiences keep going back to see it in theaters, to the point that the film has already grossed over 800 million dollars and stands a real chance of beating the record set by "Bohemian Rhapsody", the Queen biopic, which grossed 910 million dollars. Much of the credit goes to the monumental performance by Jaafar Jackson (Michael's nephew and Jermaine's son), whose breakout turn puts him firmly in the running for the Best Actor Oscar in 2027. What's most astonishing is that Jaafar isn't a trained actor, and as a teenager he wanted to be a professional golfer. In the end, the pull of music proved too strong, and in 2019 he released his debut single, "Got Me Singing", drawing attention for his vocal ability and stage presence. In 2023, producer Graham King cast him in the role after a long casting process, even though he was initially reluctant given the likely accusations of nepotism. During filming, Jaafar amazed everyone with his extraordinary dedication and his talent for portraying his beloved uncle, spending two years preparing for the role. He studied acting with a coach and danced for hours every day, guided by two of Michael's own choreographers, Rich + Tone Talauega, who had worked with him on the 1996 HIStory Tour.
What's most striking about Jaafar, beyond the flawless dance choreography, are the looks, the expressions and the voice (speaking of which: go see "Michael" in its original language version). In the film, he doesn't imitate Michael Jackson the way Rami Malek imitated Freddie Mercury in "Bohemian Rhapsody": he becomes Michael Jackson. There's total commitment not just to the mannerisms and movements, but to Jackson's very spirit: his gentleness, his kindness, his humor, his personal fragility set against his artistic determination.

If Jaafar is extraordinary, credit must also go to the inspired casting choices for Joseph Jackson (Colman Domingo), Katherine Jackson (Nia Long), Bill Bray (KeiLyn Durrel Jones) and young Michael (Juliano Krue Valdi). While Fuqua doesn't delve too deeply into certain psychological aspects of the singer, he does an excellent job capturing the musical and performative side of Michael Jackson. The performances of "Beat It", "Thriller", "Billie Jean" and "Human Nature" are a joy for both eyes and ears, especially if you watch the film in iMax format. The sets, costumes, makeup and cinematography lend absolute credibility to the musical numbers, genuinely making you feel like you're on the film set itself or at a Jackson concert.
The choice of songs, gathered on the soundtrack "Michael: Songs From The Motion Picture", is also one of the biopic's strong points. From the splendid 1979 album "Off The Wall" come "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" (which accompanies one of the biopic's most exhilarating scenes) and "Workin' Day And Night". The latter plays a pivotal role in the film's structure: it's the moment when Michael, at the end of the Victory Tour, rebels against his father and looks him in the eye, announcing his final concert together with his brothers. As many as five songs on the soundtrack are drawn from the masterpiece "Thriller": "Beat It", "Thriller", "Billie Jean", "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" and "Human Nature". Only one song was chosen from "Bad", namely the punchy title track itself, which marks his full artistic freedom from his father Joseph and a new chapter in his life.

The film "Michael" has the undeniable merit of celebrating his art while also shedding light (albeit briefly) on certain aspects that have often been poorly understood. Among these are the vitiligo that lightened his skin, the chronic pain following the Pepsi accident, and the dependence on painkillers that followed the severe burns to his scalp. The film captures the essence of the artist from Gary: his extraordinary three-and-a-half-octave voice, his incredible gravity-defying dance moves, his visionary approach to music videos, the message behind his songs. It captures all his loneliness, his humanity, his humor, his gentleness, and his determination to break free from an authoritarian father and find his own path.
But the biopic's main achievement is that it has introduced the magic of Jackson to a new generation of fans, who probably weren't even born in 2009 (the year of his death) and can now rediscover in streaming the many treasures he left behind. It's no coincidence that the King of Pop's listeners have gone, in the past month, from 70 to 110 million on Spotify, that "Billie Jean" was the most-streamed song in the world in May, according to the Billboard Global Chart, or that "Michael" is the most-watched film in theaters in 2026. The film has reignited "Michaelmania" around the world, showing even younger generations the beauty and quality of masterfully crafted, sung, played and produced pop music.
Perhaps the biopic shouldn't be judged solely on its merits as a film, but on the effects it has produced. Countless images have gone viral online of Jackson fans dancing and singing along to his songs during screenings, of flash mobs held in his honor all over the world, of the many tributes and memories shared by those who loved MJ.

Curiously, the biopic wasn't well received by Paris Jackson, who, unlike her two brothers, took part neither in the film's production nor in its premieres. Paris stated on social media: "It's Hollywood. It's not meant to be completely accurate, but to entertain. It'll appeal to fans who live in the fantasy." It's a statement one can agree or disagree with, but it does touch on a fundamental point: "Michael" is not a documentary about Jackson's life, but a work of fiction, created with the goal of entertaining. From an entertainment standpoint, the biopic works extremely well, since it never has a dull moment across its two-hour runtime and is downright thrilling during the musical and dance numbers. From a psychological standpoint, although it isn't particularly in-depth, "Michael" offers some interesting glimpses into his character, in which private fragility and public determination coexist. Probably no film, even with a more acclaimed director, could sum up in two hours the full artistic greatness and multifaceted personality of Michael Jackson. If an imperfect film like "Michael" has the merit of introducing Generation Z to an extraordinary artist like the King of Pop, while at the same time reigniting a love that never truly faded among his fans, then it has more than done its job.  

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