This Is It

He died in June and a movie comes out about him in October. I don’t think I have seen Hollywood and a major corporation (Sony) move so fast to honor a celebrity.
This Is It is not a concert movie and it is not a documentary. It is exactly what it is advertised to be, footage of preparation and rehearsals for Michael’s comeback concerts that were scheduled to take place in London.
The film begins with a scroll of what took place prior to his death this year in a Star Wars fashion. Then the words “For the Fans” comes on the screen and I beg to differ. This movie is also for the people who never had a chance to see him perform as well as the children who have adopted his music since his death. The good news is at 50 yrs old, MJ is able to keep up with outstanding dancers half his age. The bad news is that if you have never seen MJ perform in his prime then all you are seeing is a genius going through the same moves he has crafted throughout his life on stage. As you watch the amazing dancers perform behind MJ you wonder which ones will become star because they are that good. Each section of the movie reviews set up of each of MJ greatest hits. In one part of the movie Kenny Ortega, the director, is watching the stage technicians run through rehearsal of fireworks and fire that is literally running up and down the stage. MJ was burned during a Pepsi commercial during the 80’s, why he would want to deal with fire onstage again? After the dry run of fire Kenny Ortega says: Rock and Roll. The weird thing is when MJ gets on a cherry picker Kenny Ortega is so concerned with MJ s safety to the point where he is asking MJ to hold on.
It has been stated that these rehearsals captured over 100 hours of footage and Sony edited it down to 2 hours. What’s in the other footage and will it ever be released?
Now that MJ is gone you hear Beatles music (which MJ and Sony owned) in commercials frequently there is also a Beatles game. In addition you can hear MJ music everywhere. There was even a commercial for Party City that incorporated Thriller. You wonder if MJ would have approved these decisions if he were alive.
MJ fans and kids will love this movie. People who are looking for Wacko Jacko will not be satisfied because there is no footage of MJ seemingly on drugs similar to scenes from the 1981 reality documentary about Elvis called This Is Elvis. I am sure one day someone will release a Wacko Jacko film.
There is one star whose movie didn’t receive much coverage and has outlived MJ, Mick Jagger. Martin Scorsese’s 2008 Shine A Light is a documentary that you will not be able to take your eyes off because Mick is 66yrs old and he is still doing his thing. He is living proof that you can survive the blueprint that prior rock stars have perished from, sex, drugs, and now Propofol which a doctor recently told me is now called the Michael Jackson drug.
It’s ironic that MJ was at one time married to Elvis Presley’s daughter but also when Elvis died he was on a somewhat comeback tour and was headed to Nassau Coliseum to perform when he died at Graceland after a round of racquetball.

Verdict: A good movie that will bring up more questions in people’s minds on the strange demise of a talented Superstar.