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Review - This Is It
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This Is It, the two week only (for now at least) collection of rehearsal clips of the late Michael Jackson’s scheduled 50 date London show is sadly a disappointment. The movie is a hodge-podge of over 100 hours of footage, linked together by director Kenny Ortega - the concert’s director as well - into an example of what Jackson had in mind for his big comeback before his untimely passing this past summer. This Is It has the potential to be something special. At 112 minutes, what could be a genuinely intriguing what-if scenario is dragged into an often laborious venture that would be twice as powerful at half the length.
After a brief opening with Jackson’s supporting crew, each fawning over the chance to work with The King of Pop, the film dives right into the program, mixing pieces of behind the scenes footage with various days of rehearsal mixed in. As This Is It progresses, each song from the concert gets its spot to shine. Most of the biggies are here, including “Human Nature,” “Bad” and of course “Thriller,” which Jackson and Ortega are seen expanding into a 3D rumpus, complete with new gravediggers and ghouls. In the brief moments where Jackson takes hold of the planning - instructing the band on the proper way to play a song, adjusting a big set piece - you get a sense of how interesting the movie could be. Seeing Jackson repeatedly, and softly, responding to mistakes with, “That’s why we have rehearsal,” is an interesting insight into the man. These instances are far too brief and the actual singing and dancing is still clearly in the early stages.
Ortega’s decision to incorporate the full songs into This Is It, compared to cobbling together the highlights, grows tedious. Since Jackson is admittedly not giving his all with his vocals, time and again saying he doesn’t want to blow his voice out before any of the gigs even occur, the songs are unable to truly reach their true power. Hardcore fans may embrace every last morsel of the film but anyone more casual is better off listening to “Rock With You” one more time.
This Is It opens wide all across Seattle today.
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