I went to see the Michael Jackson movie Michael. Yes, it is a biopic rather than a documentary. His nephew plays him and does it very well. It is a story that tells you very little about Michael, I know that sounds crazy, but it gives little or no explanation about anything that you see in front of you, it is just presented without much background or stuffing, nothing much about what was going on in the heads of anyone in the family except that Jackson senior was pretty cruel to Michael when he was growing up. I don't know how much this harshness is true but there was nothing to tell us anything really. I am guessing of course that he was a harsh man. At least with other biopics, such as Freddie Mercury, I was able to get my head around his problems, or thought I could, and where he was coming from. This Jackson one did not give me that. None of his brothers speak in the film at all although in the first part with cruel dad they are present when Michael is getting the belt. This early life part takes up easily a third of the film and is a lot about the cruelty and dominance of Jackson senior.
There is quite a lot of Michael's obsession with getting things right in dance and production on stage, quite rightly so, and then we see him with exotic animals but no explanation of how they come to be there like a giraffe and llama in the garden. I actually covered my eyes because I am not that great with chimpanzees and hand holding and talking like they are a child and a giraffe running by. I don't know if the menagerie was true but I do recall him having a chimp as a pet but this one looked scarily like a AI image. The film goes up to 1988 and there is no bad stuff in it about Michael. It just suddenly ends and it says "to be continued" or something like that.
There was quite a lot of music when the credits went up at the end so it was worth staying the seven or eight minutes to hear the most of the music of the whole film if the music is what you want which I did. I was the only person who stayed through all that. Everybody else just got up and left as soon as it said "to be continued". All in all a bit disappointing and about 2 stars.
Today I went to see Mother Mary which is my worst movie ever in a while and I left before the end. I really could not get my head around it, what it was about, what was the point of it and what was such a good cast doing in this rubbish film. Did it ever get going? Not while I was there. It didn't seem to be a horror or spooky even though a ghost was mentioned, it was unconvincing. But then that was just me, maybe others like it. It starred Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel and it was something about a pop singer reuniting with her estranged partner(?) fashion designer. I had high hopes in the opening scene when Anne Hathaway staggers into the fashion design house uninvited through the rain and pushes past everyone like a woman possessed and then it was downhill all the way. Of course I left before the end so maybe it all happened in the last 30 minutes so who am I to say but I wasn't the only person to walk out and not come back. I would seriously say do not bother to go to this film and I don't like saying that.
Thank you for these reviews, Rachel. "Mother Mary" I have not heard about until reading your post, and it definitely does not sound like something I'd be interested. With "Michael", I have now seen it announced at a cinema in my town, but I shall simply wait until it becomes available on one of the streaming services I use. As for his childhood, it has always been said that the father was cruel and especially so with Michael, and later when he had Neverland, it was often in the magazines that he kept exotic animals there, including Bubbles the chimpanzee, who is by the way still alive. While I would not need to cover my eyes, I am not great with primates either, and don't find it funny or cute when people dress them up and make them assume "human" poses or interpret them baring their teeth as "smiling" or "laughing".
ReplyDeleteMichael will probably appear in our summer cinema. I may go and see it. There seems to be a lot of talk about it online which I haven't bothered reading. Your review now has told me all
DeleteMeike, I think I covered my eyes when the chimp was shown as "smiling" with Michael and looking up at his face, as you describe in your final sentence, which I find somewhat disturbing. I have never really known a lot about Michael as he was not really in my "era" of music when he had his solo career but I always liked Thriller as it was heard so much and was such a bestselling album at the time. For instance I have never heard of Neverland and nothing in the movie described why he was suddenly living there with his mother and (maybe) father. Perhaps some knowledge of his life was assumed by the moviemakers which I do not have. During the abuse from his father nobody in the family appeared to attempt to stop it and it wasn't until he became a young adult that his mother intervened and said "you can't do this now" I was thinking "why didn't she do something when he was a child, was it acceptable in their culture?" Many unanswered questions. I hope the story is continued as i would like to see what the moviemakers make of his later, troubled life.
DeleteLinda, if it comes to your outdoor cinemas in the summer you should definitely go see it if you can. I think it would be great way to watch it. There were lots of songs to sing along to. I saw kids coming out of an earlier showing dressed up as Michael Jackson which I thought was dead cute and he is still very much loved.
DeleteI went to see MJ the musical in the west end in March 2025 and I loved it! I mainly went for the music and it did not disappoint. His songs played a big part in my life. The only problem was the audience were mainly international and quite static (apart from talking loudly about things that had nothing to do with the production) and I really wanted to dance! I felt 20 again!
ReplyDeleteI was more of the Jackson 5 era than when he went solo and then I sort of lost touch with him until Thriller. I enjoyed the music in the film although some of it was only bits of songs until the credits when there was a lot lot more. I was surprised when people just walked out and left but then they always seem to do that in movies, here at least, and nobody ever reads the credits.
DeleteForgot to say, I will watch the film when it comes on streaming services if only for the songs. I am glad you liked his music Rachel. x
ReplyDeleteI am sure you will enjoy it for what it is. xx
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