I am admittedly a fan of Michael Jackson. Growing up listening to the entertainer and his memorable songs, I couldn’t deny his talent and couldn’t refuse my fandom. To call someone like Michael “eccentric” is almost an understatement. There have of course been reports through the years regarding (or should I say insinuating) that Jackson spent inappropriate time with young boys, and his financial activity has been under scrutiny for a while now. He was perhaps so strange that certain people couldn’t decide whether or not being a fan was even appropriate. Earlier this year Michael Jackson died – it was sudden and shocking, and almost unbelievable. Michael was in the process of gearing up for his big comeback concert tour, and had been hard at work choreographing the stage performances, and getting everything just right. Being 50 years old, many wondered if the “King of Pop” still had his magic moves. The new film THIS IS IT answers that very question.

This movie is not so much a behind the scenes biographical film as it is a ‘fly on the wall’ of concert rehearsals. It opens with a brief look at the backup dancers trying out for a chance to go on tour with Michael, and quickly leads into the lucky ones becoming a part of the impending tour. From there we are thrust into Jackson’s intense and sometimes overwhelming practice for each song to be performed. There is very little else here, no talky interludes, no outside family and friend perspectives, just an occasional brief profile of the contributors – such as short conversations with the on-stage musicians, or Michael’s vocal director. The rest is pure concert rehearsal… which is at the same time voyeuristic and humbling. We see that Michael Jackson was incredibly passionate about his practice on stage, and very determined to get everything just right. We also see that he was a generous man, making sure that those around him, such as his lead guitarist (Orianthi Panagaris), get their own special moments in the spotlight. And we see that at the age of 50, Michael Jackson had not lost a step, or a beat. This is an experience for the viewer, taking us backstage, and putting us in the audience. We see how phenomenal this concert would have been, and that’s ultimately what this film set out to show us.

Perhaps some of the more amazing parts of the movie come in little moments, such as background video that was produced to be shown on a big screen behind Michael as he dances on stage. There’s a smartly produced segment mixing Jackson into old film footage with classic silver screen icons like Humphrey Bogart and Rita Hayworth, done for his song “Smooth Criminal” – which is incidentally one of my favorites. There’s another segment for “Thriller” where they show snippets of new video shot in 3-D, in which zombies reach right out to the cameras. This footage is amazing, which is in keeping with tradition of Michael Jackson videos, and I remember thinking how much I’d like to see those segments in their entirety. I worried when the film started for a few reasons. At first it’s noticeable that Michael doesn’t sing in full force during rehearsal. Those who know about singers and stage performers realize that during rehearsals you sometimes need to preserve your voice, and in Michael’s case this is absolutely true. His singing can be so powerful, there’s just no way for him to belt out the lyrics in full volume until he absolutely has to. Because of this, some of the footage might come across as less than stellar to the audience, since they’re not hearing Michael fully sing the way they’re used to. However Jackson’s physical moves are all there, and just watching him do those trademark dance steps is enough to keep us blown away. It starts off at a fairly normal pace, then ramps up, at times feeling on a truly high octane level. When “Thriller” kicks in, no matter who you are in the audience, you’ll feel the impact.

The movie is directed by Kenny Ortega, who was the director of the concert rehearsals as well. While on screen Ortega seems a little obligatory and at times ‘just there’, but he’s crafted a nice tribute with THIS IS IT that captures the experience of being around Michael, even if just for those particular moments. In the footage, for the most part Jackson seems healthy and energetic. There’s one particular song which ends on Michael riffing with his female co-singer, and this scene is almost magical. That moment is where you see the brilliance of Michael, in that he comes up with a fresh and new way to end the song, and goes all out in the delivery, even ridiculing himself for not preserving his voice more. He felt that moment, he lost himself in that moment, and we all got to see it. You can say what you want about Michael Jackson as a person, and I certainly can’t deny he was an unusual individual, but as a performer and showman he is unparallelled. This film proves that. I never got to see him in concert, but this is about as close as you could get to that experience I’d imagine. Perhaps Kenny Ortega’s greatest success is transporting the audience into these rehearsals, and allowing us all a chance to know the man on stage just a little bit better. I loved having that opportunity, and genuinely look forward to seeing THIS IS IT again and again. It is absolutely a perfect way to say goodbye to one of the brightest shining stars in the world of entertainment.

FYI – there is a little something after the credits…

…and that’s it.

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