Michael

My thoughts from the ‘what film did you watch’ thread - I’m never really sure where to put things when there are two threads :o

Nitefly said:
Michael (at the cinema)

Biopic of pop superstar Michael Jackson, focussing on both the friction within his family and his undeniable talent.

Fair; some decent drama and exceptional dancing and music, then mired at times by questionable ‘whimsy’. With his upbringing it’s very understandable how he could end up with some ‘issues’ - especially the perfectionism - but the way the film attempts to play some of his eccentricities (at times, even as ‘cute’) cannot mask how incredibly odd and uncomfortable some of those behaviours were… especially the pet chimpanzee. At other times, there is an unnecessary focus on hero worship and showing adoring fans, which was especially distracting during some of the concert scenes.

Otherwise, there’s a lot of fun to be had. The actors playing Michael are decent and the antagonist is astonishingly hatable. Having the classics pumping loud makes it a spectacle and by itself makes it worth a trip to the cinema.

I was left baffled at where the story is left, which is nowhere near the end of Michael’s story. This makes the film feel conveniently sanitised as it avoids his lower moments but also leaves room open for a sequel, I guess. I think I would have preferred a more ‘warts and all’ film that showed him as a more complicated character. Still, I never found myself bored so the runtime did whizz by.

7/10 - highly watchable and as enjoyable as any of the other recent musician biopics, but your mileage may vary on how much certain scenes give you ‘the ick’.
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Saw it tonight. Don’t know what the critics are all smoking with all the negative reviews. There’s clearly some kind of bandwagon they want to get on :confused:

The only downside I can think of is that you get exactly what you’re expecting. On the plus side, it’s a well told story that runs through at a decent pace, showing the harshness of his father and early life, a few important story beats and major points in his life interspersed with some very fun musical scenes and excellent performances all round. You won’t go wrong if you like the music. It’s a fun watch, my cinema was laughing at the right points and bopping around in the seats. What a showman and what excellent tunes to boot.
 
I agree completely with what @Nitefly has said although I thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

One thing I didn't mention on the "What Film did you Watch" was the completely believable indication of his incredible talent.
 
Michael's opening weekend brought in nearly $220M worldwide.

I am a fan of his music so I will likely see it but probably in the week after next as I've got seats booked for Mario Bros this coming week.

I'm enjoying reading Resetera's current meltdown on their main forum.
 
No clue whether he really was a nonce or not but one things for certain, absolutely no one else on the planet is getting a pass from the general public for sleeping in the same bed as random kids 'hundreds of times'... his talent really does seem to be such that people will just give him the benefit of the doubt that they almost certainly wouldn't give to anyone else.
 
He was a troubled individual for sure. I never liked his music or style but my ex-wife was a fan and she never stopped being so, even after all the dodginess. I guess his fans are in denial about it.
 
Sadly a huge fan of his music.. But a junk movie like the Whitney one.. Only one I still think was good was the Queen one and the Elton John one.. Anyways the lad playing Michael was very good apart from that nothing else about it was good. My opinion as an MJ fan that grew up threw all that and knew his story and went to the concerts..
 
I quite enjoyed it, though it did definitely feel like they'd cut the film at a convenient time when he was at his peak, and it felt very much sugar coated in that way. You were encouraged to be on Michael's 'side', though his behaviour was very abnormal, and at times very difficult to get on side with.

I don't remember seeing a rotten tomatoes score so polarised, where the critics have absolutely panned it and the audience have absolutely loved it. I had a quick google, and the only one I spotted that was more so was Boondock Saints - Rotten Tomatoes!
 
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