Review: ‘This is it’ – the perfect ode to the perfect performer!
Spicezee Bureau

Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Jackson’s closest friend, couldn’t wait to gush about this new offering from Jackson’s fans. After 19 tweets, her message was pretty clear – Jacko would have loved the film.Her series of 19 tweets read, “It is the single most brilliant piece of filmmaking I have ever seen. It cements forever Michael`s genius in every aspect of creativity. To say the man is a genius is an understatement. He cradles each note, coaxes the music to depths beyond reality. I wept from pure joy at his God given gift. There will never, ever be the likes of him again.

“If you listen to his lyrics they are those of a modern day prophet and it beseeches us to listen to him and what he sang. I won`t use words like preaching because that is off-putting, but listen. Listen to his messages. From `Black And White`, `Man In The Mirror`. The inspiration behind `We Are The World`. We must take his words of responsibility seriously.”

"Kenny Ortega did a masterful job of directing the process that goes into making a complete show before hitting the stage. From A to Z you get Michael`s input on every level. Michael`s genius at work with the dancers. Mr Ortega catches Michael in his every mood. You see in front of your eyes Michael`s genius blossoming on this piece of film thanks to Kenny Ortega and his crews."

The film has been drawn from hundreds of hours of rehearsal and behind-the-scenes footage at ‘Staples Center’ and ‘The Forum’. The film will also offer select sequences in 3D and will also have a career retrospective and interviews with some of Jackson`s closest friends and collaborators.

In the 111 minutes of documented footage and adoration, Jackson appears in pretty good shape for a 50-year-old – even if his general spindliness makes him occasionally look a bit like a Skeleton in a lamé tuxedo. He performs at walking pace for much of the time, but makes it clear that he is holding himself in. The thoughtoften pops up at the back of the mind – there is no hint of impending demise.

The film is mostly unadorned rehearsal footage, artfully stitched together to create complete song sequences; and since the O2 gigs were intended to present his crowd-pleasing hits, they`re all here in their toe-tapping glory.

Director Kenny Ortega has lunged at the chance and has put himself in the frame quite a bit. The only positive thing out if his sucking-up technique is that we get to know that Jackson appeared to prefer culinary metaphors to describe his music: it must ‘sizzle’, or ‘simmer’, or indeed ‘nourish’!

Instead of slipping into the cloying and mushy, Ortega has admirably kept himself from giving way to over adulation, limiting it to the occasional sobbing outburst from the dancers or choreographers. What is genuinely interesting are the tidbits of Jackson`s stagecraft, in the shape of intense discussion of cues, cherry-pickers and trapdoors – presumably to demonstrate how hands-on he was.

There is also some fun sequences showing the creation of specially filmed inserts, such as the intro for ‘Smooth Criminal’ having Jackson being Photoshopped into black and white movie clips from the 1940s (fending off Bogart and Cagney).

Sucking up to, even to the legendary musician-dancer, cannot be a pleasant watch, and as one review states, “It could have been a lot worse.” It`s a bit much to claim it is any kind of viable substitute for the live show, and since Jackson avoided conversation as much as is humanly possible, it`s also a bit much to claim that the film shows how he ticks. But ‘This Is It’ is a testament of a kind - one that is no disgrace to his memory.

Four stars - just because we won’t ever be satisfied with a substitute – for nothing compares to MJ!