Quick Review: Michael Jackson's This Is It

I've been on the fence as to whether or not I even wanted to see "Michael Jackson's This Is It," the documentary cobbled together from footage of rehearsals for the series of London concerts planned by Jackson prior to his June death. There's no denying his talent -- classic hit songs, trendsetting music videos, amazing stage performances. On the other hand, there's still all the freakiness, the Wacko Jacko-ness -- the plastic surgery, the transformation from black to white, the dangling of the baby over the balcony; not to mention the allegations of child molestation (which I tend to believe are true). I figured none of that would be addressed by this movie, but how much of a deification would there be? How many scenes of screaming fans, of people involved with the concert lavishing praise on Jackson? In past Jackson televised productions such scenes were overwhelming to the point of absurdity.

Fortunately, those scenes are kept to a relative minimum. The focus of the movie is truly on the planning for the comeback shows in London. There is no footage of reaction to his death at all. Everything is taken from the rehearsals and other behind-the-scenes filming. The songs are presented in the same order in which they would have been performed live, and the movie includes some of the filmed background elements that would have been part of the show (such as a 3D production featuring zombies and other creatures for "Thriller"). However, at times there's a distinct lack of energy. Whether that was due to Jackson's health issues and/or drug abuse or simply because he was saving it for the actual shows is hard to tell. There's a limited amount of personal interaction between Jackson and the other people on stage. And there's not enough of Jackson explaining his vision for the shows, song choices, how the other dancers were selected, etc., other than a general statement about taking the audience to places they've never been before. Essentially, what we have is an attempt to create a concert film for a concert that never got to take place. It's an interesting attempt, but flawed nonetheless. My grade: B-minus.