A 10-year-old Michael Jackson (played by Juliano Krue Valdi) isn’t allowed a normal childhood and is forced to perform with his four brothers in a pop band called The Jackson 5, by their abusive father, Joseph Jackson (played by Colman Domingo). Even though they prove to be a hit, Michael in particular is spotlighted, which over time convinces the young singer that he should pursue a solo career and forge his own musical path. Despite being fully grown (and now being played by Michael Jackson’s real-life nephew, Jaafar Jackson) and being considered one of the greatest musical artists of his time, Michael is still unable to escape the grip of his father, who intends to milk his popularity for all its worth. Not wanting to fully abandon his family, but wishing to chart his own course, Michael will have to overcome this hurdle if he ever wants to fully be himself.
With audiences flocking to the cinema almost as feverishly as they did to concert halls, MICHAEL’S poor critic scores did nothing to stop fans from leading it to a $217 million opening, proving that despite the passage of time and the uncomfortable allegations placed against him, Michael Jackson still has pull. Much like Bohemian Rhapsody (which this film was compared to as both were produced by Graham King) MICHAEL is more of a highlight reel than a movie, as the plot, characters and script are hilariously underwritten and don’t offer a more thorough examination on the musician or his life, but it contains everything it needs to function serviceably.
After a lengthy production that was delayed multiple times due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike and needing to rewrite the final act in order to remove mentions of the child sex abuse accusations, MICHAEL finally saw the light of day in 2026, and nobody was quite sure how it’d perform. Fans were certain of its success, and the strong box office performance and audience reaction proved the hype hadn’t died down, but critics largely disliked the film for its shallow presentation and little to no purpose outside of an excuse to spotlight some great music, and they aren’t entirely wrong. MICHAEL contains everything it needs in order to survive as a feature-length theatrical movie; it has decent pacing, the actors all look the part, it has nice spectacle whenever a song number is played and contains just enough investment to not feel totally aimless. However, MICHAEL is all sparkle and no substance, sacrificing any in-depth exploration or nuance that could come from such a complicated figure for a glitzy praise-fest who treats its talent like a spotless angel and never explores him any further.
The biggest problem is the script written by John Logan, which will occasionally drop in something worth mulling over, but they largely act as quirky little oddities that usually get suffocated by a very streamlined and familiar set-up of a musician trying to escape the grasp of an authoritative figurehead. Regardless of the realism behind what’s occurring, the film doesn’t allow time or even opportunity for examination on Michael Jackson, and since elements like the plot, supporting characters and narrative obstacles are annoyingly simplistic, it feels very unmemorable and doesn’t offer much that a google search couldn’t provide. With that said, it isn’t insultingly lazy or contains no effort, it’s just placed into regions that aren’t going to suck in people who aren’t already under the Jackson spell. Antoine Fuqua is an odd choice for a music bio, but it never feels like his style is off or distracting, most of the performances are trying their best to be charming and engaging, and the music sequences look and sound nice enough to hook in fans, so while largely unimpressive from a film perspective, it’s hard to say it fails at its intended goal.
Jaafar Jackson had a lot of weight on his shoulders when he was cast to play his uncle, and the Jackson family (who had a lot of control over how this film turned out) received plenty of side eyes for casting one of their own members to portray Michael, but what matters is whether or not he can pull it off. In terms of mimicking Michael Jackson as a person, Jaafar Jackson does a very nice job at capturing his uncle’s mannerisms, voice, general attitude and personality, and (most importantly) really sells his unique form of ‘’oomph’’ and passion that he put into his dancing and performing style, it’s not an easy thing to nail and he does it very naturally (which can also be said for Juliano Krue Valdi as his younger version). With that said, it’s hard to truly gage his strengths as an actor since the script gives him nothing to chew on (therefore limiting what he can bring to the picture), and by merely copying a family member, it feels like he’s wearing a costume rather than playing a part, so it’d be up to a future project to determine whether or not he can survive in other roles.
Since Michael himself isn’t given a lot of depth, the supporting cast barely feel like they contribute at all and are only around because they were there for these incidents. People like Nia Long, Miles Teller, and Mike Myers do what’s required of them, but don’t really leave an impression either, Jamal R. Henderson, Tre Horton, Rhyan Hill and Joseph David-Jones should be more involved as Michael’s older brothers, yet remain as nameless background fodder like how they were treated in The Jackson 5, and Colman Domingo arguably has the only juicy role in the film as the abusive father pushing his son’s to bring fame to the family name, but is so generically written that it’s hard to get that invested in him.
Considering he was one of the best-selling artists of all time, it’s no surprise people like his music, but this movie (to its credit) does a good job reminding people why they loved his work. This isn’t because it goes into the creative process or really analyses how and why they worked, but rather just through experiencing them again after time has passed, as it’s very apparent how timeless they sound, how impressive and catchy the melodies were, and how uniquely presented some of the music videos were (Thriller has always been amazing, but seeing it recreated now just showcases how special it was for back then and even now). While the singing is mostly dubbed, the dancing can’t be easily faked, so watching that specific style brought to life on the big screen is pretty cool, even if none of the performances are really that impactful.
They can feel repetitive of themselves after a while and without any narrative weight backing them up, they don’t ring as strongly as they could’ve, but they do their duty and give the fans the show they want. The rest of the film does kind of have a nice look to it; not being fully stylized but having enough color through the believably retro production design by Barbara Ling and lovingly recreated costumes by Marci Rodgers, to keep a regular looking environment lively. Sometimes the camera work by Dion Beebe can be a little too close-quarters, often overusing close-ups in the more dramatic moments to a distracting degree, but it works much better during the song numbers where the tightness allows for more detailed looks at his movements and expressions.
It’s a shame that MICHAEL couldn’t shed more light on the person he was, and it’s hard to wash out the bittersweet stain of knowing that the Jackson family are continuing to use Michael as a cash printer even after his death, but even though this doesn’t work as a movie, it’s going to work for fans. For a proper in-depth look at his life that feels more authentic and believable, one of the documentaries will probably be better, and even when compared to other music bios, there’s very little on offer from a character, story or even basic interest level, but it is nice to see some of the classic songs on the big screen, no actor is slacking off, and it doesn’t feel like there’s any ill-will behind the camera, so it’s hard to really hate on it.
