Phenomenal performance by Jaafar Jackson channeling his uncle.

For a movie about the biggest pop star in modern history, this feels like an unfinished demo—packed with some great hits, but missing almost everything else. Jaafar Jackson embodies his uncle with uncanny precision, replicating his dance moves, voice, and even his love for animals, which is no small feat. The film’s glimpse into Michael’s creative process is engaging, and the high-production musical sequences in Dolby Atmos make for a decent theatrical experience. Juliano Valdi is electric as young Michael, and the early scenes charting the Jackson family’s rise are easily the film’s strongest moments. Colman Domingo commands attention as the abusive, self-serving Joe Jackson, while Nia Long brings warmth and grounding as Katherine. However, the brothers are treated more like background figures than fully realized characters, with little effort made to explore their relationships with Michael. The larger issue is how thoroughly the film sanitizes the complexities of Michael’s life. It becomes frustratingly evasive, sidestepping the deeper struggles that defined him. For instance, the film highlights only his positive reactions to rising fame, ignoring the overwhelm he openly spoke about in real life. As Michael himself once said, “People think they know me, but they don’t. Not really.” This film does little to change that.

Its an excellent tribute to michael Jackson and its legacy, but not a great movie. Its a series of music montages, and between them a lot of scenes of his father being a dick, and him talking to someone wanting to be free. Rinse and repeat that formula for 2 hours, w the occasion scene of him buying a random animal, and thats the movie.

Genuinely one of the best musical movies.

The movie is really biased, but maybe my review is too, lol. So yeah, I'm a huge MJ fanboy, so I went in with high hopes. There's a lot for fans to enjoy, but the movie is just okay. For a fan, the performances are jaw-dropping. Jaafar nailed the Motown 25 Billie Jean performance. There were times I forgot he wasn't actually Michael. For real. I liked Michael's manager, John Branca. He came across as a genuinely great, nice guy, which was a much-needed breath of fresh air compared to his dad. Joe was a piece of shit, and the actor who portrayed him nailed it. His acting was "immersive"; it felt natural watching Michael trying to escape Joe's grip. The movie struggles because it's heavily sanitized. Due to the Estate's involvement and those NDA settlements, they gloss over issues like the beef with his brother Jermaine and his bigger controversies. Michael was forced to be portrayed as some super duper perfect human; he felt more like a divine icon. Because they couldn't dive into the messier parts, the pacing is too fast. The film conveniently stops in the late 80s to dodge the controversies of the 90s, so instead of a cohesive life story, it's just random performances, the Pepsi accident, or hanging out with Bubbles. But I totally get why the audience score is 97%; it was great to watch, and the fanboy side of me was very well fed. It's not a deep, honest story about him, but more like a fun concert compilation.