What this film is, primarily, is a way for Sony and concert promoter AEG Live to recoup some of the king-sized debt the embattled pop star incurred, and the question of whether Jackson would even have wanted this footage aired remains.
Still, it could have been worse. At least it's not some hastily cobbled-together postcard from beyond the grave like the "collector's item" concert ticket, somehow designed by Jackson posthumously, that AEG Live offered fans in lieu of a refund.
In many ways This Is It is a moving tribute and while nothing can fully explain what persuaded all those South Africans to stay up until 3am and fork out roughly five times the price for the privilege, when they simply could have waited a couple of hours till the next morning, watching a back-lit Jackson hovering over the stage in a cherry picker and singing Beat It, you can't help being reminded why he was king.
Above all, This Is It is a concert movie. Drawing from hundred of hours of rehearsal footage, director Kenny Ortega has stitched together the performance that London audiences would have seen if everything had gone to plan.
This footage is padded with backstage interviews - back-up dancers crying with joy after their successful auditions, costume designers sewing sequins onto capes - and video images that would have been projected onto a big screen. Because it's rehearsal footage, a lot of the fireworks of the final production are missing and the focus falls squarely on the songs and the moves.
Given Jackson's unequalled back catalogue, that is not an entirely unappealing prospect, except that for the first few numbers Jackson is a shadow of his former self, thin and stiff, his voice strained. Anyone looking for signs of his imminent demise will find their ghoulish curiosity satisfied.
But as the concert date draws nearer, Jackson seems to grow strong with anticipation. A natural showman, he can't resist trying to impress his dancers and crew.
Surprisingly, Jackson does not appear to be lip-syncing, but even more surprisingly, he sounds pretty darn good. In fact, if it weren't for the new face, you'd say no time had passed since his heyday. This only serves to cast a greater shadow over his untimely death.
Whatever the outcome of the investigation into his death, it's clear the concert would have been spectacular.
What's most interesting about the film, though, is its unprecedented glimpse of Jackson's fiercely guarded private life. In what is probably the most candid footage of Jackson ever captured, he sometimes comes off as a bit of a control freak, but at other times he is playful and sweet. Strangely human. And that's the film's most potentially shocking conclusion of all. Despite everything, MJ might have been just like us.
Loading...
Be the first to comment