Musical biopics have become an easy target of criticism these days, and it’s even easier to be entirely cynical about them. Sometimes, a movie about a musician dares to break the mold and escape the tried-and-true formula to create an unique experience (2024’s “A Better Man” wasn’t a good movie, but certainly tried to do something different). More often, they play it safe and let the music sell the tickets. Director Antoine Fuqua’s embattled “Michael,” the story of Michael Jackson, is certainly aiming to let the music do the selling.
“Michael” is constructed to be a safe retelling of Michael’s origins and pack movie auditoriums (always a good thing) with those ready to “hee hee” directly at the screen. The movie isn’t really interested in examining Michael as a person, carefully capturing his life only through the late-’80s, sidestepping any address of the sexual abuse allegations that would come later in life (there’s allegedly going to be a follow-up film, but certainly the timeline of any subsequent films will be as estate-sanctioned as this one).
As for the movie that finally made its way to theater screens? It’s fine. It’s another film straight off the conveyor belt at the Musical Biopic Factory, which follows the formula and occasionally pops with the theatricality of the musical sequences. “Michael” goes to painstaking efforts to portray its subject as a saintly figure, but the movie sells him as a commodity and rarely a human being. It often feels like playing the greatest hits in the background while reading through Michael’s Wikipedia page.
The movie begins with a speed run through Michael’s (played in the younger years by Juliano Valdi) early life in Gary, Indiana, where he and his brothers are on their way to becoming the Jackson 5. Their abusive father, Joseph (a terrific and properly unlikable Colman Domingo), pushes his sons — Michael in particular — to practice and perform, even if it is at the expense of schooling. Their mother, Katherine (Nia Long), is a soft-spoken observer of the family but knows it’s often without endeavor to try and talk sense into Joseph.
As the group begins to perform and gain notoriety, all eyes are on the talent of young Michael, who catches the eye of Motown representatives (with Larenz Tate as Motown founder Berry Gordy). As the Jackson 5 continues to grow, the movie shows the success is due to young Michael’s talents, and he begins skyrocketing on his own trajectory. He is later portrayed by Jaafar Jackson, Michael’s real-life nephew, who happens to do a good impression of his uncle.
As Jackson takes over the role in the film, Michael is on his way to superstardom, even though Joseph tries to keep him tied to the group with his brothers. Michael’s stardom is rapidly outgrowing the original group, but convincing his father he’s no longer a child and can make his own decisions is a Herculean task (enter Michael’s entertainment lawyer, John Branca, played by Miles Teller).
Jackson, as his uncle, certainly delivers an uncanny impression, but John Logan’s screenplay doesn’t give the character any true depth. Michael is portrayed as a lonely guy who finds solace in the animals brought to the house (Bubbles the chimp does, indeed, make an appearance). Like anyone who listens to Michael’s music, the movie is drawn toward playing the hits, but a more interesting movie would have explored the B-sides of Michael’s life and the effects of his exploding celebrity. But because “Michael” is produced by Branca and executive-produced by various members of the Jackson family (including many siblings), the movie is clear in its intentions: preserve Michael’s legacy above all else.
When young Michael is in the recording booth for the first time, he is constantly given the note to stop moving his feet when he sings — but every time he starts singing, it becomes almost impossible for him to not move. That’s the effect the music sequences in the film will have on an audience, especially when played larger-than-life on an IMAX screen. Once “Thriller” is introduced — in an almost comically evil genius being born kind of way — the movie theater crowd erupts. That’s the purpose of “Michael,” and nothing deeper than that.
Matthew Passantino is a freelance film critic and a member of the Critics Choice Association and the Greater Western New York Film Critics Association.
