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I’m probably
going to surprise quite a few of my friends
and co-writers with the review I am about
to post. The great majority of them, whether
or not they were at all fans of Michael
Jackson, were the type who continuously
made jokes about him. Whether due to his
antics before his passing or taking advantage
of the fact that he did pass, jokes were
always flying. I was guilty of this myself.
But I make fun of everything, whether it
is something I like or not and I neither
liked nor disliked Michael Jackson.
I thought he did some pretty crazy things,
and for better or worse, the press did not
help his cause any. I will admit to hoping
that the allegations of his lifestyle choices
were false, if for no other reason than
we didn’t need another deviant celebrity
in our midst. I don’t know any of
the truths, none of us do, but I have always
believed that he was more misunderstood
than anything.
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I'd like to believe his love for children was
not any way sick or depraved and still believe
that. I used to say that I was not a huge fan
of his music, but truth be told I found him to
be an incredibly talented individual.
When MJ passed away, I was sickened by all of
the media attention. And I’m not just talking
about the people saying bad things about him,
but also the people saying the good. Seeing everyday
folks treating him like he was some sort of God
was rather twisted. I mean its okay to grieve,
but people you need to move on with your lives
and not seem so ridiculous. I pretty much heard
the news, was shocked, felt sad… and was
done in 5 minutes. He was not part of my family,
I did not know him, I just liked his music.
Anyhow, getting off my soap box… I was
at first rather appalled when I heard about the
Jackson family rushing to put together a film
made up of the tons of rehearsal footage shot
for Michael’s upcoming final tour. I’ll
grant you that I was glad to hear there was footage
of these final performances, but to put them together
so quickly felt like they were trying to strike
while the iron was hot and make a few bucks. I
felt the timing was wrong and was sure that the
overall quality of the film would be less than
stellar. I still think I’m right about the
first, but was surprisingly wrong about the second.
I opted to wait for the Bluray release of “This
is It” as opposed to seeing it in theaters.
I wanted some of the ‘rush’ to fade
out as well as avoiding the fanatical crowds at
all costs. Plus, it felt like a better time. Having
now watched the documentary, I am ready to admit
that it was far from thrown together. It is quite
simply one of the best edited and most entertaining
‘concert/documentary’ pieces I have
ever watched. As I mentioned, the film was culled
from hours and hours of rehearsal footage, but
it was cut together in such a way that quite a
bit of it felt like you were actually watching
finished pieces of the planned concert. I came
away with a renewed interest in Michael Jackson’s
work and the planned upcoming tour. From what
I saw in “This is It”, people would
have been floored.
Most of the time “This is It” seems
like a finished concert. There are only a few
times that the action is brought to a halt by
Jackson because something hasn’t worked
right. And it is those moments that we are allowed
a little insight into his perfectionism. He needed
the performance to be perfect, and if it wasn’t,
Jackson would make sure that whatever the issue
was… it would be addressed. Director Kenny
Ortega, who also gave us the “High School
Musical” trilogy, did an excellent job of
editing the footage. There are moments where people
are interviewed, but they are cut in between the
musical numbers as opposed to right in the middle
of one. From start to finish, the project is a
solid one.
The Bluray edition of “This is It”
is exceptional in both video and audio. Most of
this footage was not originally meant for the
public to see, at least not this way. For the
most part it was meant to be used by Jackson to
watch the rehearsals and tweak the performances.
But this being the case, the video for the actual
rehearsals is extremely well shot and the colors
quite vivid. There are some moments where grain
is evident, but it is in some of the darker sequences
and behind the scenes style footage where this
shows up and is quite expected. The audio is phenomenal
as the microphones pick up everything... and I
mean everything. The musical numbers are especially
strong, again making it seem like you are watching
the final product and not a rehearsal.
Extra features include a lengthy 2-part documentary
about the proposed show itself. Here is where
we learn some of the nitty gritty details of how
the concert was first conceptualized and came
together, and how it took a team effort to create
the entire concert. There are also some features
focusing on Jackson’s clothing style, tributes
from a few of his dancers and a look at some of
the auditions process for this concert. If you
do buy the Bluray, you also get to see some vignettes
on the videos for “Thriller” and “smooth
Criminal” as well as a brief ‘making
of’ for the latter, Additionally, the disc
offers BD-Live Movie IQ.
Whether you’re a fan of The Gloved One
or not, there is no denying his musical talent.
If there was to be a farewell to his works, “This
is It” is… well… it.
Directed by: Kenny Ortega
Starring: Michael Jackson
Extras: 2 Making of Documentaries; 3 Featurettes;
Bluray Exclusive – “Thriller”
and “Smooth Criminal” Vignettes; Making
of “Smooth Criminal”
Specification: Widescreen 1080p High Definition
(1.78:1); 5.1 DTS-HD MA
Studio: Sony
Release Date: 1/26/2010
MPAA Rating: PG
http://www.sonypictures.com
We'll give This is It an A.
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