by Dwight Brown
NNPA News Service

Michael Jackson’s life far too often overshadowed his talent. But as you watch “This is it,” a work-in-progress documentary, with footage that was never necessarily meant to become a theatrical feature-length film, you have to ponder, “What pop artist was or is better?”

Michael Jackson’s influence is woven through the creative process of the mammoth, ambitious show. “This is It.” (Photo courtesy of NNPA)

Elvis could sing, act and gyrate, but he couldn’t dance. And his talent didn’t extend into creating musical theater.  Madonna takes elaborate shows around the world, but she has a voice only a mother could love. The Beatles have a catalogue of music that is unmatched to this day, but on stage they just stood sang and played instruments.

As the film starts, dancers convene for what was to be Michael Jackson’s final rehearsals for a 50-night performance schedule in London.  Some poignantly reveal how important it was to dance with him.  One hoofer proclaims, “I was searching for something to give me meaning. This is it.”

Skeptics might point out that Jackson was no Dalai Lama, L. Ron Hubbard or Dr. Phil.  But, to a young pop dancer, the chance to perform with the person who changed dance for the MTV generation is about as good as it gets.

Rehearsal footage depicts a fit MJ; lean – not emaciated, energetic – not lethargic, lively – not near death’s door. He jumps, twists, turns and hops with the same gusto and precision as his back-up dancers.  Only they are in their 20s and MJ is 50!  

That’s right – half a century old!

Often, he is not singing in full voice, as he tries to preserve his vocal chords for the up-coming concerts. Though some may say his vocals have been enhanced, he sings a whole lot better than some of today’s top artists, like Justin Timberlake. When he goes full out, he’s pitch perfect, his voice is flexible and emotional.

This film is ambitious musical theater that includes movie clips, elaborate sets (production designer Bernt Amadeus Capra, set director Donald Elmblad), provocative costumes and magical lighting. The most astonishing feat is MJ’s insertion into a song in the movie “Gilda,” starring Rita Hayworth and Humphrey Bogart.  A machinegun-wielding Bogart chases Michael, and in black and white footage – courtesy of a blue screen – you can see how the concert magic is being created.  There is another song in which dancers cavort on frames like a construction site on the back of the set that is bathed in a warm moss green metallic light that is simply mesmerizing.

Jackson’s handprints are all over this mammoth, ambitious show.  Credit director Kenny Ortega for the visual splendor and day-to-day coordination, but as the footage attests, MJ is the captain of the ship.  Both the choreographer and vocal supervisor Dorian Holley defer to him.

The Earth Song sequence is a patience-testing misstep. On film, in a setting that must represent the Amazon, a young child runs through a forest that is being demolished by bulldozers.

The moment is so sentimental and politically correct that it grates on the nerves and adds seven minutes to a 112-minute film that could have been a tad shorter. Edited down from hundreds of hours of footage, each second is crucial; this unfinished attempt at an eco friendly message should have been left on the editing floor.

“Human Nature,” “Billie Jean,” “Thriller”… the gloved one puts on a backstage show that is thoroughly entertaining—and in fact more compelling than if the production team had simply filmed the concert.  Watching him create each song/performance on a sound stage is as captivating as him singing and dancing in front of a live audience.

There are some who will claim this documentary is ghoulish. I think haunting is a better word, as you fathom what the music world would have been like had he lived.  

This enlightening, behind-the-scenes documentary gives MJ a way of setting the record straight.  If any performer is more talented than he, or has left more of an imprint on a musical generation, they should step up or shut up.

(Visit NNPA Film Critic Dwight Brown at www.DwightBrownInk.com.)