MICHAEL
Starring: Jaafar Jackson, Colman Domingo, Nia Long, Miles Teller, Juliano Valdi, Kendrick Sampson, Laura Harrier, Larenz Tate and KeiLyn Durrel Jones
Director: Antoine Fuqua
AMARÚ
There’s no denying Michael Jackson’s star-power (Mr. Obvious over here) because even with a cookie-cutter film like Michael, I couldn’t help but get goosebumps watching this slew of greatest hits. Antoine Fuqua’s grand, music-video like direction weirdly mixes well with what’s normally uncanny-valley CGI to enhance the fairytale aesthetic of Mike’s (Jaafar Jackson) world. The casting is outstanding, with Colman Domingo and Nia Long delivering wonderfully, but it’s Jackson who disappears into his uncle. The voice, the moves, the demeanor are all wildly perfect. Too bad the emotional beats were barely grazed in favor of music montages. Maybe the sequel, though.
NICK
Michael is a coming-of-age story instead of one that spans Michael Jackson’s (Jaafar Jackson) lifetime, focusing heavily on his relationship with his overbearing father (Colman Domingo). The film avoids many of his controversial moments, eschewing that to focus on Michael's rise and undeniable talent. Jaafar Jackson disappears into Michael, not just on stage, but also through showcasing his child-like personality. Yet with no depth in the storytelling and an abundance of musical re-creations, the dramatic moments never hit their desired level. As a celebration of one of the greatest artists of all time, however, it does its job… even if it is a puff piece.
ADRIANO
In the wave of musical biopics, Michael Jackson was inevitably going to get his story told. Michael is the worst case scenario of safe and generic storytelling. Excising all of the interesting dynamics of Jackson’s life (played to an occasionally reincarnated degree by Jaafar Jackson), the film is dumbed down to an oversimplified victim narrative and a stakeless greatest hits album. None of this surprised me. What did surprise me was how dull it was. From the baffling direction choices of Antoine Fuqua to the sanitized portrayal of a wild personality, Michael is bad… really, really bad.
PAIGE
While Michael is certainly a crowd pleaser with entertaining concert sequences, its narrative is as cookie-cutter as they come. This paint-by-numbers biopic only scratches the surface of Michael’s (Jaafar Jackson) early years and his desire to break free as a solo artist. It skims through the biggest moments of his career. The film’s script is extremely thin, jumping from one event to the next without diving deep into anything. Jackson strongly embodies his uncle’s mannerisms and dance moves, but the supporting characters are either one note or given little to do. In the end, the movie plays more like a greatest hits concert than an insightful biopic of Michael’s early years.
KATIE
Going into Michael, I didn’t expect a candid exploration of the most controversial moments of Michael Jackson’s life and career, at least not anything that would cast him in a negative light. What I wanted were excellent musical set pieces and a great leading performance, and it delivers on that. Jaafar Jackson is amazing as Michael, perfectly embodying his mannerisms and movements. Michael is cliché, the characters are barely developed, and it plays it very safe, but I was so entertained by the music and pitch-perfect recreations of some of Michael Jackson’s best performances that I didn’t really mind.
Want to hear even more of our thoughts? Nick and Shak join Matt to take A Bigger Bite out of Michael HERE.