"Forget insight into its subject's strange, warped personal life, or his artistry as an entertainer, or his family's famously fraught dynamics-Michael barely manages the momentum needed to propel itself between the many musical numbers that are its main reason for existing. Watching it feels more like being frog-marched through a wax museum than watching a movie, each milestone restaged with an off-putting, uncanny-valley resemblance and no interiority."
"Antoine Fuqua's demi-biopic of Michael Jackson gives you the chimp, the llama, the giraffe... but not the elephant in the living room. It's like a 127-minute trailer montage assembling every music-movie cliche you can think of: the producers' astonishment in the recording studio, the tour bus, the billboard chart ascent, the meeting with the uncool corporate execs in their offices."
The Michael Jackson biopic experienced a tumultuous production, initially set for 2025 but delayed due to legal issues regarding Jordan Chandler's allegations. The film's ending was rewritten to present a more positive conclusion, costing $10 to $15 million. While some family members and fans hope the film will enhance Jackson's legacy, critics remain unconvinced of its quality. Reviewers describe it as lacking depth and insight, comparing the experience to a disjointed montage rather than a cohesive narrative.
Read at Pitchfork
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