Verdict: 4/5
As someone born in 2000, I didn’t grow up with Michael Jackson. I had little more than a passing awareness of the cultural impact his career had.
So, when my grandmother suggested we see ‘Michael’, I didn’t expect much beyond a nostalgic trip for her and a snooze in the cinema for me.
Instead, I walked out genuinely surprised by how engaging the movie turned out to be.
Much of the conversation around the movie has focused on what it leaves out, particularly regarding Jackson’s later life. But that criticism feels misplaced given the film is designed to be the start of telling the King of Pop’s story. This film ends in 1988, leaving the door open to tell the rest of Michael’s story.
What ‘Michael’ does include is incredibly compelling. The movie opens in 1966, introducing a young Michael through Juliano Valdi’s standout performance. Valdi captures not only the obvious talents like the beginning of Michael’s vocal brilliance and sharp choreography but also the emotional strain of a childhood shaped by relentless familial pressure.
Opposite him, Colman Domingo’s performance as Joe Jackson is chillingly effective as a father driven by ambition whose harshness looms over every moment of the Jackson 5’s rise.
As the story moves into Michael’s adult years, Michael’s nephew Jaafar Jackson steps into the role, and it’s here the film truly finds its rhythm. Jaafar’s resemblance to his uncle is uncanny and more than that, he is able to capture the intangible qualities Michael had like the softness in his demeanor, his childlike personality, and the clear loneliness Michael felt throughout his career.
The film does an excellent job of contrasting Michael’s public and private selves. On stage, he’s electric with every movement precise, and every note delivered with confidence. Off stage, he feels sad and lonely, as though the persona that made him famous also separates him from the world around him.
Crucially, the movie passes the biggest test any Michael Jackson biopic faces – recreating the legendary stage presence. Jaafar rises to the challenge, convincingly replicating the voice, the choreography, and the charisma that defined who Michael was.
This isn’t a definitive portrait of the life of Michael Jackson, but it is an energetic, moving introduction to a complex figure, and a promising first step in telling a much larger story.
See this movie at Penrith Hoyts.
