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'This is It' offers fulfilling closure for fans
The Advocate
What would have been “This is It” is now what should have been “This is It.”
The scene that sets the mood for the film is of professional dancers showing an outpouring of emotion for Michael Jackson. However, they were not tears of sadness falling for the King of Pop, but tears of overwhelming gratitude. As a short five-minute clip of the movie will show, these dancers were handpicked out of thousands to join M.J. on his final concert tour. Their hard work and dedication would have paid off if not for M.J.’s death eight days before the first of 50 live performances in London.
There are two widely known intentions of the film: to show the world M.J.’s final days so that fans could decide for themselves how sick he was and to give fans a sense of closure, a way to say goodbye. Flocking in millions to theaters, some hope to get a glimpse of what he was like before his death and others hope to connect with the “man in the mirror” one last time. Selfishly, I had hung onto the glimmer of hopeful thinking that I might actually get to see a part of Jackson never seen before. My hope paid off.
Kenny Ortega, the director of “This is It” (the tour and the film) and close personal friend of M.J., said to The New York Times, “Was he slight? Yes. Was he frail? At times, but we had a very strong and excited, happy and determined Michael.”
I saw both the “slight and frail” M.J. and the “excited, happy and determined” M.J.
Frustration and fragility are apparent on his face when during his Jackson 5 tribute performance of “I’ll Be There” he interrupted the music and said, “It feels like there’s a fist being shoved into your ear,” meaning the inner sound piece was too loud for him to hear himself sing. He says “give me love” to the sound crew and proceeds to struggle through the rest of the set.
But I saw none of the ease that was reflected while witnessing M.J. doing his famous moon-walk or the snappy little head twitches we used to try to mimic when we were kids. He seemed to almost always be two seconds behind the dancers and appeared to be trying too hard.
Don’t get me wrong. If you’re a fan, you should definitely see this film. It made the legend real to me. Seeing that he isn’t perfect, that he gets tired, that his notes fall flat (rarely but they do), all helped me realize how close to him I could be as a fan. The connection Sony Studios, the Jackson estate, and Ortega had hoped to establish with fans was truly made.
The sneak peeks the film provides of visual effects, elaborate uses of technology, and collaboration of film and music let you see firsthand what should have been. You can see the pride shine on M.J.’s face when the crew does a run-through of his favorites.
The I’m “Bad” swagger during a sensational integration of stage and film for “Smooth Criminal” proved his determination furiously. The set was amazing and starts with a scene portraying something from “Westside Story.” Dancers were snapping, the set is a view of the city behind an old empty building, and then fades to a movie screen. And there’s M.J. looking suave in a pin-stripe suit, strapped with a Tommy gun! This performance was superb! And after playing it straight through, the bystanders applauded, and the old Michael was back bowing before his worshipers.
As for “Thriller,” let’s just say I thought I was going to jump out of my seat. If you get creeped out watching the original music video, imagine being in a stadium with ghosts flying overhead and dead people coming at you from all angles on screen. That’s what would have been had the Jackson crew been able to perform live. And M.J. was on point, with his zombie like movements and his eardrum-crushing-yet-amazingly-in-tune scream. Thrilling, oooh I’m getting shivers up my spine writing about it.
The movie ends climactically. I was on the edge of my seat waiting for some footage of the crew finding out about M.J.’s sudden death. In order to leave fans on a positive note, as I’m sure M.J. would have wanted, Ortega ends with footage of a prayer circle. M.J. and the crew stood in a circle while he thanked them for their hard work and dedication. “It’s an adventure, a great adventure,” he says of working with them.
The production and release of the footage has succeeded in honoring the commitment M.J. made to fans when he publicly proclaimed, “This is it. I just want to say that these will be my final show performances in London. When I say this is it, it really means this is it.”
At first I was torn as to whether I enjoyed this movie. Now, I as I reflect on the intentions of the production and what I expected, this movie fulfilled every objective set for it. Honestly, who could be disappointed by Michael Jackson even when he screws up? Not me.
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