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Michael Jackson's "This Is It" is a goodbye to fans, but not much else
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This Is It
November 9, 2009 (New York, NY) -- There's a famous story about Michael Jackson's dedication to quality control. When the final mixes were done of "Thriller", Jackson's mid-80's 70-million selling smash, producer Quicny Jones sent Jackson a copy for his approval. Jackson reportedly was so upset with what he thought were inadequacies in the mix that he cried, and insisted that he and Jones remix the entire album. Jones was dumbstruck, knowing they had a monster hit on their hands, but relented.
In the end, he told Rolling Stone after Jackson's death, the entertainer was probably right. 70 million fans can't be wrong, and all that.
Well, Jackson wasn't around for quality control for the new "This Is It" film, and it shows. Jackson's touch is sorely missed.
I'm sure you know the story: Jackson committed to a series of shows at London's O2 Arena and began preparations for a comeback that wasn't to be. So that - except for the obligatory reissues and posthumous releases - was the end of the story, right?
Not by a long shot. "This Is It" is a film of what might have been.
Not long after Jackson's death a clip of the rehearsals for the "This Is It" shows surfaced. (Not surprisingly it's one of the best moments in the finished film.) Then it leaked that about 100 hours of footage had been shot of the preparations for the concerts and that promoter AEG Live were shopping it around to the major studios. Sony stepped in and hired choreographer Kenny Ortega to make what he could of the footage.
The result? Well, it's obvious that Ortega isn't much of a director. But given the timetable he was on (Sony originally gave Ortega about a month to edit the footage in time for Jackson's August birthday, but he - with Michael's love for all things spooky in mind - was able to win out for a Halloween release) and what he had to work with (the footage was supposedly shot with mostly static cameras for Ortega's and Jackson's review), Ortega's finished prodcut is commedable.
Jackson is a bit of a cipher here. He rarely is in full voice (several songs appear to have studio vocals dropped in and all seem to be composites of performances) and almost never does more than walk back and forth across the stage. That's unfortunate. When Jackson does pull out his moves it's magic; he makes the dancers half his age and with far more training sharing the stage with him look stiff in comparison.
And Jackson doesn't interact very much with anyone in the film; even Ortega, his partner in the production. One of the best moments, though, is during a soundcheck when Jackson's musical director is pushing him to give more. Jackson is clearly uncomfortable being pressed. But the MD was just doing his job and was on firm ground. We don't see him again in the film, but Jackson clearly needed more people like that - and less like Ortega - around him.
In the end the film seems much longer than it's 111 minutes (apparently a tip of the numerological hat by Ortega to Jackson), and I kept waiting for it to lift off. It never does.
Those looking for clues to the comeback that never was will be hard-pressed to find them here. Sure, Jackson was a consumate entertainer. But this is really the bonus documentary that would have come with the DVD of the final concerts. And fans will - and should - love the glimpse that "This Is It" provides into Jackson's world and what the "This Is It" shows might have looked like, hazy as it might be.
But knowing Jackson's strict ideals about quality control it seems more likely that most of "This Is It" never would have seen the light of day if Jackson was still with us.
This article is copyright 2009 by Jeff Slate. No part may be reprinted or referenced without permission and/or attribution. All rights reserved.
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