Join Us
Star Cast: Jaafar Jackson, Colman Domingo, Nia Long, and Miles Teller
Director: Antoine Fuqua
What’s Good: The recreation of some of the concerts is quite nice, as well as the sense that Michael went all out in each performance.
What’s Bad: The character development and the drama are paper-thin.
Loo Break: At any point during the second act could be a good time to take a break.
Watch or Not?: Watch only if you’re a huge Michael Jackson fan; if not, then maybe wait for a digital release.
Language: English (with subtitles)
Available On: Theaters
Runtime: 127 Minutes
User Rating:
There have been many musical biopics in the last decade, like Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman, just to name a few, but although those are films about great artists, none of them really reach the level of fame of Michael Jackson, a true icon that even today still shines bright despite his passing, and Hollywood remembers him as well, which is why this new film, Michael, is being made, but the film itself might not be a match to the size of the artist it is trying to contain.
Michael Movie Review: Script Analysis
Michael is not a bad film; it is just a very superficial one, which leaves a bad taste in your mouth. The point of a biopic is to go deeper into the lives of its subjects and, in doing so, reveal a new side of it all, one that is worth watching and, therefore, a story that is worth telling and paying for at the theaters, and Michael doesn’t really do that, making the overall reaction to the film somewhat tepid.
The script is a huge problem, which only becomes worse by adding very out-of-pace editing, which doesn’t allow any scene to breathe, as the film needs to push forward and move on until the very end, because its needs to, and the result is just a combination of scenes that don’t really flow between each other, just moments that end up feeling more like a collage than an actual film.
Because the film can’t stay too long in one place, there is no space to develop characters or even the story itself, so we just get snippets of the entire thing, as if in a music video, which is very ironic because Michael Jackson’s own music videos were long epics that allowed themselves to take the time to tell a story or convey a feeling. This doesn’t happen in this film, so the story feels very superficial; we are not allowed to know Michael in any way, but that is precisely what he wanted.
The script gives the film one central conflict, that of Michael with his father, Joseph, and it all ends up in the classic abusive father kind of thing we have seen before a million times, and there is nothing bad about that as it is supposed to be real, but it is not compelling enough; the characters don’t really confront anything with each other or with themselves, there is just the idea, and that is a bit boring.
Michael Movie Review: Star Performance
Jaafar Jackson, Michael’s own nephew, brings his uncle to life. They look a bit like each other, and Jaafar definitely has passion for the role, but the script doesn’t give him any big moments. Everything is just too subdued, and while Domingo does great at being annoying, there is also no depth in there.
The rest of the cast is just there; really, nothing for them to do or for those characters to be played by big character actors. That is to say, Nia Long and Miles Teller; their characters are non-characters; they are plot devices, and their relationship with Michael is just as distant as anything else. The Jackson brothers, for example, people that Michael spent decades living and working with, could not exist at all in the film; they are just background decorations, and that feels like a huge waste.
Trending
Michael Movie Review: Direction, Music
Antoine Fuqua is a competent director, a very good one at times, but here, there is no vision; no one really knows what angle to take to make Michael’s tale unique, and it results in a film with a TV-movie quality, which makes it feel cheap. Even if it isn’t, there is really nothing unique here; from performances to cinematography or set design, everything is pretty standard, and that is what makes the movie more of a TV experience than something that needs to be watched on the big screen.
The soundtrack is amazing, of course, journeying through Jackson’s catalog from when he was a kid, passing through Thriller, and ending up in the Bad era; every song hits because they are good, catchy songs, but they come from beyond the film, and so the film really has no credit over these songs.
Michael Movie Review: The Last Word
Michael is an okay movie; it isn’t bad, but it isn’t good either. It is just there as an homage to Michael and his work, but it doesn’t really tell any story worth telling or push the limits of what a biopic should be; it is all very much by the numbers, and by being that way, it betrays the artist it tries to portray, a true visionary and someone who really tried to be the best, while the film is happy with the bare minimum.
Michael Trailer
Michael released on 24th April, 2026.
Share with us your experience of watching Michael.
Must Read: Scream 7 Movie Review: Neve Campbell Starrer Is A Watchable Slasher That Forgets Why It Exists!
Follow Us: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Google News
