Antoine Fuqua’s biopic (released on April 24) of infamous pop singer Michael Jackson has received praise online for it’s realistic depiction of the music star’s demeanor and personality. While the movie’s production was top quality, it was disappointingly left on a bitter-sweet cliffhanger stating that “Michael will return”.
The movie left much to be desired by not including the constant controversy Jackson faced from the media and the accusations coming from fans. Most notably the trial of 2005, in which he was accused of having inappropriate relations with then teenager Gavin Arvizo. Though, major reshoots, rescripting and re-budgeting, due to the Jackson estate lobbying for the third act (which involved major allegations) to be removed delayed the movie and perhaps forced this end result.
Excluding the scenes that were cut out due to legal reasons, the actual story follows Jackson’s transition from childhood to adulthood and his experience in both The Jackson 5 and his solo career. The movie also gives details further into how those lines constantly blurred which included scenes showing the singer’s battle against his father to retain power over his own musical journey.
The film mainly depicts his fans as unconditionally loving and adoring; removing any negative aspects regarding the label which managed his music. While yes, covering the entirety of Jackson’s accomplishments, awards and accusations is nearly impossible to do in anything under two hours, the film shouldn’t have had such a focus on Jackson’s early life. Instead, it should’ve had more of a focus on the overall accomplishment along with his adversities that he dealt with for the majority of his life.
The movie featured some of Jackson’s most popular music videos including “Bad,” “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough,” and “Thriller.”. This music, along with their respective videos, are notorious in the world of pop culture and have heavily influenced the musicians of today.
In terms of the more serious portions, production included Jackson’s infamous Pepsi commercial where his hair caught on fire leaving him with severe burns. Though this might’ve been left in solely to emphasize his father’s influence in his music career and the effects of his decisions, producers utilized the opportunity well to showcase some of the harder parts of Jackson’s life in an amiable manner.
During the latter stages of the production, the Jackson estate paid for extensive reshoots to scrap the third act of the film; requiring a new budget and script while forcing Lionsgate to pay out an additional 10 million to producer Graham King and 15 million to Antoine Fuqua.
In short, the movie production quality was up to standard and didn’t fail to captivate fans with spectacular behind-the-scenes style music videos. Watching “Michael” in theaters could be described as the closest thing to watching him live, helping new fans experience his impact while reintroducing Jackson’s magical stage presence to older ones.
Hopefully, the next production will have an increasingly serious undertone and give a more in depth look into the darker parts of the late pop star’s adult life. Coming in the relatively near future, the sequel of the biopic is currently in early development and is set to release in 2027 or 2028.
