It’s not well advertised, perhaps deliberately, but Antoine Fuqua’s Michael only covers half of Michael Jackson’s life and career, from his debut as part of the Jackson 5 in 1964 up until the release of Bad, at the height of his fame, in 1988. The focus is squarely on Michael’s childhood and early life, in particular his relationship with his father Joseph, played as a sinister, hunched-over boogeyman by Colman Domingo. The movie sets him up as the obvious villain of the piece, showing him capriciously beating young Michael and dominating the lives and careers of him and his siblings, even as he drives them to stardom.
From there, the movie follows Michael’s rise in popularity as the breakout star of the Jackson 5, details the making of his solo albums with Quincy Jones (Kendrick Sampson) and showcases his eccentric lifestyle, in particular his collection of animals - naturally including Bubbles the Chimp, rendered in slightly off-looking CGI that recalls the Robbie Williams biopic Better Man. The events in his life play out on screen just as they did in real life, although bereft of any outside perspective or any real conflict aside from his relationship with his father. This is the movie’s major problem: it’s so sanitised and hagiographic that it becomes boring.
The recreations of Michael’s songs, performances and music videos are more filler than Thriller. While technically impressive in how they accurately copy the originals, shot for shot, I got the feeling that the movie was treating them as a chance to take a breather rather than using them to provide any kind of commentary on Michael’s character or thought processes - no matter how many times it cut to Michael staring at a pinboard with lyrics scattered across it, seemingly deep in thought. I was reminded of similar sequences from Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody, another biopic that suffered from having to include the artist’s music but without connecting it to the script in any meaningful way.
I don’t want to sound like I was just eager to see how the movie handled the well-publicised sexual abuse allegations made against Michael in the 90s and 2000s - that would almost be too easy as a source of drama. But what’s left is a simple tale of a talented musician who makes it big and enjoys global fame: it doesn’t go deep enough into Michael’s own character, his passions and flaws, and it doesn’t show him having to deal with any hardships on his road to stardom, even though we know from history that it wasn’t all handed to him on a silver platter.
Last year while visiting Cologne in Germany, I went to see a Michael Jackson tribute act. Although the singer playing Michael didn’t quite have his looks or voice, he had his moves down perfectly, and the show was an energetic celebration of Jackson’s music. It’s a shame that the same can’t be said of Michael; although the casting of Michael’s nephew Jaafar Jackson in the lead role means the resemblance is far stronger, and both he and Colman Domingo turn in excellent performances, the decision to focus on a shallow, greatest-hits version of the first half of his career robs the movie of any real purpose other than setting up some neat recreations of his work. It’s a shame: Michael Jackson in real life was far more interesting than this movie makes out.
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Michael (2026); dir. Antoine Fuqua. Starring Jaafar Jackson as Michael Jackson; Colman Domingo as Joseph Jackson; Nia Long as Katherine Jackson; Miles Teller as John Branca