From Thriller to Beat It to Billy Jean to Man in the Mirror, Michael Jackson earned the title: The King of Pop. And if you don’t believe that, you will after you see this movie.
“Michael Jackson’s This Is It” is a documentary that covers the rehearsals leading-up to what would have been his final 50 live concerts in London, England this summer. Fortunately over 100 hours of footage was shot during the three months that Jackson and a few dozen musicians and dancers practiced for the concert at The Forum and the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
It’s likely that very little of this rehearsal footage would have made it into the concert movie that was planned, but, since there will never be a concert tour because of Jackson’s death, this documentary becomes a wonderful final tribute to the man and his music.
The movie is presented in a very basic style, going back and forth between songs and behind the scenes stuff, including interviews with some of the other performers. The best non-musical parts of the movie are the scenes in which we see Michael as producer: making changes with the musicians and choreographer, talking with the crew, and working with director Kenny Ortega (best known as the man behind the “High School Musical” trilogy).
But “This Is It” is mainly about the music, and Jackson sounds and looks great. Considering all the stories we’ve read and heard about the final days before his death, I was not expecting Michael to sing and dance as well as he does. And there are several cool music videos that were going to be a part of the concert that we get to see, including for “Thriller” and “Smooth Criminal”.
Even if you’re just as casual fan, you will be thrilled seeing and hearing Jackson do these songs, especially since it’s the final time that he did them. And Ortega deserves a lot of credit for putting together this documentary, which runs over 2-hours, in a few short months.
And the DVD and Blu-ray extras are tremendous, including more footage, as well as tributes to Michael from family members and friends.
“This Is It” is rated PG for a few scary scenes in the “Thriller” sequence, but there’s really nothing in the film that’s a problem for anyone. It’s a must-see for fans of any age.
On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” gets a B+.
After seeing “This Is It” you’ll wish that, if Jackson was still alive and there was a concert tour, that you had a front row ticket.