June 25, 2009 was a day that sent shocks around the world when Michael Jackson, the beloved musical icon, passed away. Loved by millions with everyone anticipating his return to the stage this year, Michael Jackson was scheduled to perform with a string of 50 sold out concerts in London; all of which were supposed to start on July 13th.
Now fans can see what Michael Jackson had up his sleeve in the form of a newly released movie called This Is It. A concert film documenting his rehearsals both on stage and behind the scenes of his cancelled concerts, This Is It was released in theaters on October 28th for a two-week limited run. Using hundreds of hours of rehearsal footage that was only captured for Michael’s own personal collection, the movie was edited down to about 112 minutes. The film shows Michael singing and dancing on stage to his most famous songs, like “Beat It” and “Billie Jean”; just as he would be performing them at a concert. His voice is still great and his dancing is impeccable in the sense that he still can keep up and dance better than his back up dancers who are half his age!
The movie included shot footage of songs such as “Thriller” and “Smooth Criminal”, which not only gave them a fresher feel but also seemed to look like extended music videos of the original; those were supposed to be playing on a large screen above the stage when he’s performing the songs at the scheduled concerts. The movie also shows how Michael and his team chose a small group of back-up dancers from the many hundreds that auditioned as well as short interviews with the crew that were working on the concert; all of whom talked passionately about Michael and how professional and hardworking he was as well as how lucky they were to be a part of this huge production.
Not only does This Is It show Michael on stage but it also showed how he deals with the director and his suggestions as well interactions with the crew. This gives viewers a glimpse of how Michael was very kind and humble on the contrary to what the media used to show us, a tainted picture of him for many years before his death.
Those planned concerts would have been his first series of concerts since the “HIStory” world tour in 1997; and from the looks of it, This Is It would have been an amazing and breathtaking spectacle. Fans, viewers and critics all agree with that notion with heap loads of positive feedback in the press as well as word of mouth circles. One critic said it could have been potentially one of the "grandest and most visually stunning concerts of all time - but it never got to see the light of day."
Still, the movie wasn’t free of controversy. Michael’s father claims that the movie is a hoax and that they mostly used body doubles; he felt it wasn’t really Michael Jackson in all the scenes. Also some fans were angered, and launched a protest campaign against the film, which was entitled "This Is NOT It"; its focus was to convince people that Michael's health was neglected by the concert promoters and that they were partly responsible for his death but banking on the profits from the movie now.
All the controversy aside, I think this is an amazing movie and a great experience. I advise everyone to see it especially since its going to be for a limited run; if it’s being shown at an IMAX screen, it’s better to see it there as opposed to a normal cinema since the IMAX screen gives one the feeling that one is really there at the rehearsals and a part of the concert's audience. It’s sad to see all the hard work the whole crew (directors, dancers, singers) as well as Michael Jackson went through planning and rehearsing it. Also, the fact that Michael Jackson’s vision will never be fully seen in a finalized form is a tearjerker, but from what I’ve seen, This Is It has proved that it would have been one hell of a show.
Michael Jackson still lives on through this movie, which has given fans and the world a chance to experience and see his concert; maybe not in person but with the high definition and cutting edge technology these days in cinema, who can really tell?
Not only does This Is It show Michael on stage but it also showed how he deals with the director and his suggestions as well interactions with the crew. This gives viewers a glimpse of how Michael was very kind and humble on the contrary to what the media used to show us, a tainted picture of him for many years before his death.