Michael Jackson’s This Is It
Nathan Swank
October 30th, 2009
Before seeing THIS IS IT, I believed it was basically a shameless tool to make more money off the death of the King of Pop, but after watching it, I believe I am sorely mistaken. True, this may have not been made had Michal not died this past June, even the opening text states that the cameras were there for his own personal record of his show and of course at the end states, “For The Fans.” That is exactly what this documentary is, for the fans.
This is a tough film to grade appropriately since it will rely heavily on how much of a fan you are of Michael Jackson. For big Michael Jackson fans they are going to love it. Getting another piece of Michael after his unfortunate death is exciting. Anything new with Michael is a success for his true fans. I would consider myself along with millions to be a huge fan. As a child my first album ever was Thriller (on vinyl). I wore a Beat It shirt and I imitated his moves the best I could. I still do that. At weddings people laugh at my dancing style (I tend to over work the shoulders rather than the feet or crotch). What they don’t know is that I’m just imitating Michael Jackson but I’m so “Bad,” no one can tell… I apologize.
It is a true joy and pleasure to see Michael in his element. He is definitely a different person when he is on stage compared to interviews. He is still soft spoken but on stage he knows what he wants and he directs everyone accordingly. Michael has always said he feels more comfortable on stage than anywhere else and it shows. He has very specific instructions with every sound, beat and move. This is his element. I loved these moments in the film and I wish I could have seen more, but it’s tough to criticize when that wasn’t the plan. I also liked the interviews with the dancers, singers and musicians. It was clear that everyone working with him loved and admired Michael, only wanting to do the very best for him. I think it would be neat to follow them more as well and show their experience. That being said, I love Michael’s music. He performs many all favorites, that is pretty much all he has is favorites. This is rehearsal so he isn’t putting his full dance or voice into it, but even at 25% Michael is better than most anyone. That is why he is who he is.
There is no doubt that Michael Jackson is one of the greatest musician entertainers of all time. In my opinion he is the best for my generation. I have been fortunate enough to see some greats in concert but perhaps the greatest I never saw was Michael Jackson and I am sad about that. I know many will argue the greatest is maybe Elvis or The Beatles but even if you don’t like him I think we can all agree that Michael is in with, if not on top of, this elite group of influence on music. It would have been a great concert and production of entertainment. Thankfully we get a glimpse of that concert and we get to sit and watch Michael perform to his music and this is always a good thing. The worst thing about the documentary is exactly what the title says; This Is It.
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