For longtime fans of late singer Michael Jackson, This Is It provides a rare glimpse of the artist as he prepared for his final tour. The film fittingly begins with Jackson performing “Wanna Be Starting Something,” having had to deal with myriad tabloid intrusions into his private life. They were always trying to “start something” with Jackson; sometimes he played along, most of the time he seemed to ignore it as best he could.
Jackson’s perfectionism is clear; he goes over and over cues with his crew, but he comes across as kind and thoughtful. At one point he stops to tell director Kenny Ortega that he’s having trouble with his in-ear speakers, but is trying his best. Jackson aims to let them know why he’s not on top of his game, but in an effort to avoid sounding critical, he says that he’s telling Ortega this “with love. L-O-V-E.”
Jackson has a slew of dancers behind him onstage, but it’s hard to look away from the man himself. He’s electric, and it’s hard to believe he’s likely twice the age of most of his dancers. He teaches them his moves and they still look like knock-offs at best – there’s no one who can move the way Jackson does. He performs “Billie Jean” flawlessly, then almost shrugs and says “Well, at least we got the feel of it.” It’s as if he’s unaware of how truly remarkable it is that his talent has remained so intact and available more than 20 years after the record was released.
In the film, Jackson is ultimately focused on creating a great concert experience, but he’s not too focused to have a good time. In fact, he smiles and jokes as if this isn’t one of the biggest tests of his life, calling out “God bless you” to his crew, who stand around to watch him perform. The concert is huge, spanning decades of hits, and dazzling with its pre-recorded videos and sets. Jackson meant this to be the tour to top all tours, and it’s likely he would’ve succeeded.
In a time when many performers lip-sync their way through concerts, Jackson planned to sing live, and this is perhaps one of the most amazing things about This Is It: his voice, though shaky at times, is without parallel. He stops near the end of a song and tells his audience that he’s conserving his voice, so “please understand,” and then lets loose an extraordinarily beautiful stream of notes.
The audience leaves This Is It feeling as though they’ve witnessed something of a love letter from Jackson to his fans. Though he likely would’ve been upset that the final product is slightly unpolished and unfinished, it’s clear what Jackson was aiming to do. He intended to give his fans the thing they have wanted most: a chance to see the ultimate entertainer, in his element, performing his greatest hits.
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Comments
Between the over-the-top eulogizing of Michael Jackson and the celebrity protestations over the possibility that Roman Polanski might finally be brought to justice, I cannot help but get the uncomfortable feeling that a large portion of society has become desensitized to crimes against children. Neither of these men deserve anywhere near the attention or accolades that have been heaped upon them and their questionable history of alleged child abuse and pedophilia is truly sickening to the core.
@Elwin: Michael Jackson was aquitted, Roman Polanski was convicted.
Michael Jackson was proven innocent, the tabloids messed up everybody's brain, and i guess Michael's reclusiveness did not help. Elwin, did people ever think on the other side of the coin? How outraged would feel if somebody falsely accused you of doing something you detested. MJ did so much to help children and they used it against him. That is sickening to the core!
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