When I saw the first photo of Jaafar Jackson portraying his uncle in February 2024, I immediately marked my calendar for April 18, 2025, the original release date for the film. After numerous delays, I was finally able to watch the film on April 24, 2026. While the film has its flaws, I think the movie was well worth the wait.
As a lifelong Michael Jackson fan, I went into this movie with very high expectations. Obviously, with a career and life as long and complicated as Michael Jackson’s, a two-hour film can’t possibly cover everything. The film covers events in Michael’s life from the late 1960s to 1988. The film begins with the creation of the Jackson Five and concludes with the Bad tour. It runs through these different eras very quickly and does not give each era enough time to develop before jumping on to the next one. This makes the film feel like it goes by very quickly and does not go in depth on certain areas of Jacksons’ life. The whole third act had to be reshot due to legal issues, leading to a very rushed ending. It ends with a performance of ‘Bad’ at Wembley, and it feels like they just put that in there to add another iconic song, not to add to the narrative.
The film also has numerous inaccuracies with timeline and audio usage. Many songs are performed before they came out in real life, and while they recreate a concert that occurred in 1984, they use concert audio from 1988. It’s small inaccuracies like these that made me wonder why Lionsgate, despite having access to an infinite amount of MJ history from his estate, couldn’t get the little things right.
Certain time periods and people that are very important in Jackson’s solo career, such as Barry Gordy, his brothers and him splitting from Motown, and meeting Quincy Jones during the making of the Wiz, are completely absent from the film. Three members of his family–Rebbie, Randy, and Janet–are completely absent from the film. These moments and figures being left out were disappointing, and inclusions like these would have added to the narrative, which is centered around Michael gaining his independence from his family.
As a fan, I was expecting a deep dive into these years of Michael’s career. After my initial disappointment about all the things they left out of the narrative, I viewed the film from a different perspective. I realize that jumping from decade to decade fits the story they are trying to portray. For a viewer who is just a casual fan of Michael Jackson, or someone who doesn’t really know anything about him, I think it provides basic and interesting knowledge in an entertaining narrative. The movie portrays Joe Jackson, Michael’s father, as the villain, and it is very satisfactory at the end when Michael finally gains independence from him.
Speaking of Joe Jackson, the actor who portrays him, Colman Domingo, gives a performance that has you hating Michael Jackson’s father during his first minute of screentime.
Jaafar Jackson is incredible playing the role of his uncle Michael. This is Jaafar’s acting debut, and for his inaugural role to be portraying such an important and complex person, he nailed it. He prepared for the role for two years, working with acting coaches and watching archived footage to master Michael’s dance moves and voice, and you can see his hard work pay off on screen.
The movie includes many iconic songs leading up to the “Bad” album, and a movie soundtrack with 13 songs was released alongside the film’s release. Many iconic songs are left out, but I believe they did a good job selecting songs and where they should be put into the film. My favorite use of a song was “Workin Day and Night,” as he and his brothers perform the song when he tells the world that he will no longer perform with his brothers. While this isn’t how the events occurred in real life, I thought that having Michael and his brothers perform a song about overworking yourself, while he finally breaks free from his father’s control, was a clever way to match the meaning of a song to the story.
While the movie doesn’t give you much insight into Michaels creative process, or him creating some of his biggest hits, it was a very fun watch for me as a huge fan, and I’m sure it would be for a casual fan too. The movie doesn’t address the most controversial points in his life, however, does end with a title screen reading “his story continues,” opening the door for a potential second film, helping aid my issue with the pacing of the movie. The movie doesn’t answer every question about the King of Pop’s long and complex career, but it is filled with great music, performances, and an interesting story. It shows a grounded version of Michael Jackson, one that I hope will give viewers more insight into the lonely life he led.
Overall, I would give this movie a B+. It’s not perfect, and I wish there was more substance. But I had a very fun time watching it (so much fun I’ve already seen it twice) and would recommend it to moviegoers and music fans alike. It may not be the most complete telling of Michaels story, but it’s an entertaining start that left me wanting more.
