REVIEW: ‘This Is It’

While it’s easy to dismiss the posthumous release of Michael Jackson’s tour rehearsal footage as a crass cash grab, it would be a shame to do so. Jackson’s legacy deserved the boost the London “This Is It” shows would have undoubtedly provided, and the documentary “This Is It” proves to be a bittersweet reminder of that legacy.

Longtime Jackson collaborator Kenny Ortega, who was the overseeing director of the stage production, has the unenviable task of assembling the footage from several rehearsals in June. It’s a mix of high-grade film camerawork and static, low-res video, meant to supply Jackson with archival material and the eventual tour documentary with B-roll “behind-the-scenes” bits.

It’s not polished stuff – Jackson isn’t singing every song with full voice, saving himself for the grueling prospect of fifty shows in London. That said, even at half-power, Jackson’s voice is clear and distinctive. His dance moves don’t betray a brittle 50-year-old has-been, as some early reports pointed to. Jackson’s precision and energy rivaled the backup dancers working alongside him, half his age and all at the top of their game.

Jackson’s attention to detail is also on display, as he works with the band backing him up to get everything note-perfect. In a lot of similar tours, a performer of Jackson’s stature would have either passed the task of getting the music right off to a director like Ortega, or berated the musician responsible for a gaffe until they didn’t have an ass left. Jackson shows patience and grace while crafting the grooves that made him a legend. “No one knows the music like Michael,” several of the seasoned sidemen remark in cutaway interviews, and they’re all in awe of his mastery and control.

The production included several sequences meant for the massive video display behind the stage, and many of these were thankfully included. The biggest audience reaction came when “Thriller” started up – the combination of the 3D filmed accompaniment along with the over-the-top staging surpasses the 1983 John Landis bellwether video by a fair amount (and yes, I know what blasphemy that is). Many of Jackson’s hits from “Thriller,” “Bad” and “Dangerous” are included in the footage, all slickly produced with sparkling arrangements. I look forward to seeing more of the production when the inevitable Blu-Ray disc is released.

Part of the agreement the Jackson family had with the filmmakers was that there would be no mention of Jackson’s sordid past 15 years, or salacious bits regarding his death by accidental overdose. It’s still painful to look at Jackson’s surgically altered features, and the extreme close-ups are thankfully kept to a minimum.

My hope is that the generation who only knows that part of Jackson can work their way past the perception built up of “Wacko Jacko” and watch “This Is It” for what it is: an account of promise unfulfilled. I never got to see Michael Jackson perform live, one of the things I’ll carry a pang of regret for. It’s a pale substitute, but it’s as close as we’ll come. Ortega brought as much of Jackson’s live show to the big screen as he was able, and delivers on every level possible.