This Is It
By David Houssein
Director:
Kenny Ortega Duration:
112 minutes Release
Date: 28th October Rating:
PG
This is it? Is that all? We now live in an era where a band practice is now shown in cinemas! Albeit bizarre, history has been made.
Supposedly documenting the final moments of his life, ‘This Is It’ really fails to capture any emotion you’d expect to get from such a documentary. It barely moves away from the planning of the doomed tour and the stage where Michael and his “family” practice. It’s essentially an ego stroke and a money making exercise.
This isn’t to say that it’s bad though, and if you can put the cynicism to one side you’ll love it. It’s clear that the tour would have been phenomenal; ‘Thriller’, ‘Man In The Mirror’, ‘Earth Song’, ‘Billie Jean’, ‘Beat It’, ‘Smooth Criminal’ and some Jackson 5 material all sounded excellent, though ‘Dirty Diana’ sadly didn’t make an appearance.
Green screen films had been made to accompany MJ’s performance and it would have been a shame if they never saw the light of day, so that’s at least one good reason to watch it. The whole operation was extremely professional and impressive, and with everybody giving it 100% to ensure that the tour would have been spectacular, ‘This Is It’ highlights the influence and power Michael has on the people who work around him
Whether or not you should see it really depends on your conscience. You’re not missing anything groundbreaking if you don’t fancy propping up the Michael Jackson estate, but if you’re not interested in the politics and you’re a massive fan, then go ahead, even if it’s just to watch his electrifying rendition of ‘Billie Jean’. He may have been 50 but he could still make shapes like the dancing machine he was 25 years ago!
FAME Rating: * * * *
