This Is It, homage to Michael Jackson

This Is It, the much-awaited movie showing the Michael Jackson in rehearsal during the days leading up to his unfortunate demise last summer, is now in the theaters. Just like the concert of the same title that never happened, the picture turned out to be a major event. So much has been said and more will still be said about this film.

Fact is, it is flawed, incredibly so. It is made up of out of focus, unplanned, badly lighted shots and has uneven sound. The editing is repetitive with the same shots fading out or fading in for different scenes. It gets lethargic during the slow numbers. Oh well, they were probably just going along with the beat of the music.

This Is It is not really a feature film. No Jackson bio in here. There is no coherent story. Neither is it a documentary, as it does not narrate or delve into anything. It is just a mishmash of footage that most of the time showed Jackson at work.

The worse criticism of all though is, it is exploitative. Jackson has been dead for only a few months, when here come the people who might have made a lot of money on the aborted concert tour with a movie. They probably just want to recoup their investment. And they had the gall to release it on Halloween season yet!

On the other hand though, please be reminded that the shots that make up This Is It were never intended for public viewing. Nobody thought then that those would ever be spliced together to make a movie. They were merely rehearsal aids to find out what they were doing wrong. There are some great moments with the sound thanks to the fantastic band and some enhancements in the musical numbers, but the rest was not recorded through a proper mixer.

There is really no story in this one and neither is it a record of Jackson’s final days. This Is It comes from 100 hours of film. It is out of these that the producers and director, choreographer Kenny Ortega who was also supposed to direct the concert, put together something that resembles a complete motion picture or at least, something that would make some sense.

It is to the delight of everybody that they accomplished more. Maybe it is mainly because of Jackson’s star power. He would shine anywhere. And the King of Pop is in excellent form throughout. He is in fact, electrifying. And to think that he was on the verge of turning 50 when this was shot. Why he had even been accused of being on drugs or whatever? There on the screen is proof indeed that he was healthy and fit and one of the greatest dancers of all time.

Then there is Jackson, the man interacting with his band, dancers, stage hands, etc. At no time in his career had we seen him so real, so open, funny, charming and so all-around nice. Can you think of any big star, whose reaction to missteps is a sweet, “That’s why we have rehearsals?” Michael was that nice. Remember, he never thought we would be watching this film so at no time was this guy acting.

Another factor is Ortega himself. He has so much love and admiration for his subject and these feelings are palpable in every shot. You know how Jackson made a lot of talk about love, about giving love to everybody. He radiates love in This Is It. I think Ortega gave this love right back while putting This Is It together. And we the audience now feel that love. So we give it right back to Michael with tears and applause and regret over such a great loss.

This Is It is a work of love for the fans, the people who love Jackson. I warn those who are not, not to watch the movie. Because they’ll surely come out of the theater also loving Michael. So who cares about the faults. All that matters is that Michael Jackson is up there dancing and singing all those wonderful songs.

Exploitative? Maybe. But would you rather they just kept this film under lock and key? No way.