Jackson film will appeal to fans
Michael Jackson’s last concert tour never came to be. However, the preperations for it have been chronicled in the new documentary, This Is It.
Email
Print
Letter to Editor
Share
This Is It is a good — not great, but very good — documentary, probably one of the better concert films you’ll ever see that fails to capture any actual concert footage.
The movie provides an inside look at rehearsals for what was to have been the final curtain call for the king of pop, Michael Jackson. As we all know, the curtain fell too soon, putting a dagger through the series of landmark London concerts, which causes one to wonder if this film was a little too rushed. Perhaps a little more ragged than it should be. Maybe a bit of a cash grab?
You certainly can’t blame director Kenny Ortega. You gotta strike when the iron is hot, and anything regarding Michael Jackson has been simmering since he passed away on June 25. Working with footage shot from just a few cameras and a team of four editors, This Is It uses few testimonials — granted, interviews in a project like this are traditionally mere padding — but given the posthumous platform of the project, the overdose of singing, dancing, and elaborate pyrotechnics seems so … gosh, routine.
It was going to be quite a concert, mind you. In fact, if nothing else, This Is It reminds us what a larger-than-life superstar Michael Jackson was, how big just wasn’t big enough. It’s also comforting to see, not a prima donna, but a surprisingly polite, gracious and competent professional giving his all to the show. Unless Ortega shaved a ton of material off the final edit, I don’t see a guy too weak to perform as rumours have suggested. He huffs, puffs and moonwalks his way through classics like Billie Jean, Thriller and Smooth Criminal, rarely missing a beat. In fact, he finds a way to add a few.
So even if This Is It isn’t beyond brilliant, rest assured, Michael Jackson was. And that alone makes this flick required viewing for his fans.
Out of a possible five stars, I’ll give This Is It a three and a half. The feature is currently playing at the Pen-Mar Cinema Centre in Penticton.
Jason Armstrong is a movie reviewer living in the Okanagan.
v2
