![]() ![]() Earth Song gets an eye-popping eco-fantasy forest decimated by fire a bulldozer that later emerges onstage.Ī few performances fall short of expectations but as Jackson reminds his team several times: "That's what rehearsal is for." Billie Jean is a perfunctory run-through with hardly a moonwalk. ![]() A graveyard filled with 3D zombies is a Thriller. Those video creations expand This is It when the rehearsal regimen grows stale. Take your pick of highlights: Jackson's ethereal falsetto on Human Nature,The Way You Make Me Feel slowed to a groggy groove before erupting, Smooth Criminal with Jackson digitally co-starring with Humphrey Bogart and Rita Hayworth, one of several backdrop videos planned for concerts. ![]() He's happy, and in that moment so are we. Just before darkness, a sweet, satisfied smile crosses his face. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' and Jam are followed by They Don't Care About Us and the movie's most touching shot: Jackson bathed in mellow, slowly fading blue lighting. Keep them open and you're dazzled by his dancing. Close your eyes and you'd think he's singing start to finish. No matter what he's wearing, the performances are practically the same in each take. Yet that also shows how precise Jackson was, physically and tonally. Wardrobes often changing during nearly each song betray how much patchwork editing Ortega needed. Jackson's volume occasionally fades, as audio is tweaked. The fact that Ortega isn't filming a concert but constructing one creates minor problems. Jackson appears invincible, and only cynics will object. Of course, the Jackson family's deal with in allowing This is It to be made prevents including anything to diminish his image. It would be stunning, an explosion of pyro and visual effects framing one of the greatest performers ever, who at age 50 hadn't appeared to lose a step or octave. And now, This is It.ĭirector Kenny Ortega - whom Jackson trusted with staging his comeback and survivors entrusted with this cine-memorial - orchestrated a minor miracle with This is It, culling footage from weeks of rehearsals into a surprisingly smooth, energetic idea of what a 21st century Michael Jackson concert would be. Neither legend had camera crews trailing them until hours before dying. Unlike Presley at the end, Jackson wanted to prove himself again. But you can sense Jackson anticipating that, witness him working perhaps too tirelessly for it, in an incomparable movie since nothing like this happened before. ![]()
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