‘Michael Jackson’s This Is It’ ***
The following is a capsule version of Michael Phillips’ review, which ran in Thursday’s Live! section. For the full review, visit chicagotribune.com/talkingpictures
How much of “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” can we believe? Was Jackson, 50 at the time of his death June 25, in rougher shape overall than the concert rehearsal footage assembled here suggests? Most certainly, yes. Produced with the full, watchful cooperation of the Jackson estate, pulled from 100-plus hours of film and video shot between March and June 2009, “This Is It” has no interest in telling the full story of anything.
Rather, director Kenny Ortega — Jackson’s partner in staging the London concert that was never to be — is simply trying to suggest in some detail what sort of overstuffed career retrospective Jackson was attempting in this phantom arena affair. Naivete, calculation and all, it looks as if it would’ve been a helluva show, complete with eco-consciousness-raising, an onstage bulldozer and 3-D “Thriller” footage.
“This Is It” is best taken as a bittersweet celebration of Jackson the dancer. When he revisits “Billie Jean” and “Beat It,” we see someone who never really grew into any kind of visually recognizable adulthood, belonging to no easily recognizable notion of manhood. But the quicksilver limbs and perpetually busy hands (penguin flippers one second, rotating pinwheels the next, never at ease) were Jackson’s way of expressing what he expressed best.
He could dance brilliantly right up to the end, it’s clear. “This Is It” may be a court documentary, but as even a heavily lawyered portrait of an artist, it’s still compelling.
Running time: 1:51. MPAA rating: PG (for some suggestive choreography and scary images)
