I didn't just watch Michael; I lived the era. Yet, here is why this film fails the man while celebrating the brand.

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I have been a die-hard Michael Jackson fan since 1991 when I first saw his video Black or White at my cousin’s place. Since then, I had a long journey of being a practical fan instead of being a fanatic fan. I composed, wrote, sang and released THE MICHAEL JACKSON ANTHEM which was then downloaded by more than 7 million fans for free. I founded The OFFICIAL MICHAEL JACKSON INDIAN FAN CLUB was authenticated by his late management as well as Sony-BMG (Sony Music now) on papers. I was in touch with Frank DiLeo, Michael himself on occasions. It was a connection so deep that the international press hounded me for weeks following his passing in 2009 since they knew I was in touch with Michael. After the estate was in charge, it was ruthless with even fans. Every fan knows it. It’s a long story and I am sharing it just for letting you know what gives me some authenticity in writing this review. Having navigated the shift from Michael’s personal team to the Estate’s current regime, I offer this honest review with the clarity of someone who knows the man, not just the brand. My other work profile doesn’t matter here but if you are interested in more about me and the Michael Jackson connection, you can read it here - https://www.thefinalmiracle.com/meandmj

 

Let me get to the review… some fans might not like it. There was a time I would care, when Michael was alive and things were coordinated when I knew the difference in the strategy of Michael and his personal team vs. Sony and its PR team. Fans born after 2000 will never know the struggle of being a Michael Jackson fan, a figure surrounded with controversies all the time. My review is a very honest one and with the clarity that I love and support Michael Jackson and not The Michael Jackson Estate.

 

I had almost had compiled the review in my mind after I watched the trailer which I had hated thoroughly, yet, the Michael Jackson fan in me was not allowing me to hate it. After all its one of Michael’s hype videos from DANGEROUS – THE SHORT FILMS said… PREJUDICE is IGNORANCE. My prejudice was fueled more by the negative reviews from press/media, but again in the back of my mind I knew that the media wasn’t kind to him ever. Tabloid Junkies as Michael called them were so shameless that in one of their news, they quoted me calling him “Jacko” which I would never did. The fans fought with me for that but Michael and his associates knew that it was the media misquoting me. So, media reviews were to be doubted anyway.

Much of the press has again and again mentioned the absence of the controversial 1993 child abuse case in their reviews, especially since it was shot and then scrapped for legal reasons. Technically speaking, if this movie ends with Bad concert in 1988, it was not needed. It might be there in the 2nd part if it’s released. I am sure the ruthless lawyers of estate are smart enough to find some loophole to use and show the story without mentioning the Chandlers. Probably they will do that since there cannot be a biopic of Michael Jackson without this case and the 2003 one, which give a lot of importance to his comeback, the struggles after that and the controversy surrounding his death.

 

When I went to the movie from the beginning till the end I was mesmerized. It was my front row ticket to Michael Jackson concert. The mixing, the production has been superb. What appeared like AI generated videos in trailer looked really smooth on screen. Jaafar Jackson has proven his prowess in his Michael Jackson moves which are the closest I have seen to the King of Pop himself. He has done a great job of mimicking Michael and though he doesn’t at all look like Michael (rather more like his father Jermaine), there are moments you see Michael. I had goosebumps every time there was a Michael Jackson performance. Juliano Valdi who has played the young Michael Jackson has too done a very impressive job. Colman Domingo, Nia Long and KeiLyn Durrel Jones also have done a good job.

 

For fans or anyone who has loved Michael Jackson’s music, this movie is great. It is a celebration which cannot be ignored. There are multiple goosebump moments and probably many tear-jerking ones too for those who cry easily.

 

But yet, it doesn’t seem like a biopic. It is more like his discography and milestones going on and on. The ending is so abrupt that there is no transition in between the Victory concert performance and Bad Concert in London. Though the movie does show Michael’s hardships, especially his demanding and seemingly-evil father, it has nothing more to show factually. Many of the things in movie are sometimes lies, sometimes exaggerated or even totally omitted to favor some other person or situation.

 

Here are some things missing or wrongly portrayed in the biopic which really matter -

 

1. Michael Jackson never choreographed Beat It video as shown in the movie, Michael Peters has.

2. John Branca being the producer has over-glorified his role in Michael’s life. Frank DiLeo had played a major part in Michael’s success but the movie hardly gives him any credit and keeps the spotlight on Branca portraying him as some Messiah that protected Michael’s business as well as worked a Genie where Michael’s wish was his command. I hope he has the guts to show in the 2nd part that he was fired by Michael in 1990 and again in 2003. Branca has done an excellent job when it comes to Michael’s career, but he was not the only one like portrayed in the movie.

3. No matter how disciplined and physically abusive Joe Jackson was, Michael has many times credited him for his success as well. The movie shows him like an all-evil guy only trying to make money for himself using Michael.

4. The Jackson family (Except for his mother Katherine Jackson, Janet Jackson and his children), have hounded him over money and made him cry over the years. But since they are the executive producers, they haven’t shown themselves being like Joe Jackson, which they were. Take up any Michael Jackson biography, especially his official one and you will know. These are the same people along with The Michael Jackson estate milking Michael for money in his death too. I respect Janet and Paris’s decision to stay away from the movie and its hype. Paris Jackson actually filed a legal objection during the film’s production regarding the Estate's use of funds for the biopic,

5. Michael never talked in high-pitched falsetto-like voice in real life. He used that only in public. He had a strong baritone voice full of confidence without any shyness or childlike emotion as shown in the movie. In the scenes with his family or in official meetings they could have shown his real voice. Because the biopic will mislead many new fans or even unread old fans into thinking that he had this kind of high-pitched voice all that time which always had been demeaned and criticized by non-MJ Fans.

6. Jaafar Jackson is seen wearing the iconic striped pants from the Victory Tour during scenes set at Dodger Stadium where, in reality, Michael wore a different outfit.

7. Diana Ross who groomed Michael in his teenage days is hardly given any importance in the movie. Kat Graham was actually cast and filmed scenes as Diana Ross, but they were entirely removed from the theatrical cut maybe because the Jackson family (producers of the movie) didn’t want to give her any credit for Michael’s success. Diana Ross was Michael’s primary mentor and "surrogate mother" figure during the 1970s. The film instead leans heavily on his relationship with his bodyguard, Bill Bray, to fill that emotional space. I think she also preferred to be omitted from the movie like Janet did, knowing what the leeches in Michael’s life might be doing with this biopic.

8. Michael’s struggle with his looks is limited only to his nose. It was not just that. Why Michael Jackson got obsessed with his perfect chiselled looks is completely lacking in the movie. If Michael Jackson is known for his music, dance and humanitarian efforts, his changing face each year has been equally popular and hence a requirement in his biopic.

9. Michael’s solo career at Motown was actually orchestrated by Joe Jackson and Berry Gordy to maximize the brand's reach while he was still fronting the Jackson 5. There wasn't any rebellion for a solo career in the late '60s; it was a calculated business move by the adults. The rebel started with ‘Off the Wall’.

10. The movie treats the jump from Motown to Epic Records as a smooth career step. In reality, it was a high-stakes legal war where the family lost the iconic name "Jackson 5" to Berry Gordy and had to fight to reinvent themselves as "The Jacksons." This was Michael’s first real taste of the industry's "ruthlessness", a lesson that stayed with him and eventually informed his decision to buy the Beatles catalog years later. The film also ignores the deep family rift this caused when Jermaine chose to stay at Motown, prioritizing his marriage to Hazel Gordy and his own career over the family group. By glossing over this, the biopic misses a crucial turning point where Michael learned that in this business, corporate contracts can be more powerful than blood.

11. The movie totally misses Michael’s time while filming The Wiz (1978). In reality, this was where he met Quincy Jones and began the most important partnership of his career. By skipping this, the film portrays their collaboration on Off the Wall as happening almost by "musical destiny" rather than through the gruelling work of a film set. This was important to show because it is important to know that a producer like Quincy Jones found Michael talented enough to have an album produced by him and not vice-versa. Skipping The Wiz also erases Michael’s first major step toward cinematic independence, as that was his first big solo project outside the group dynamic.

12. An important song ‘The Girl is Mine’ from Thriller which was a collaboration with The Beatles member - Sir Paul McCartney was totally omitted which might be due to legal reasons.

13. The above collaboration would have been instrumental to also show one of the most important things that the biopic entirely misses - Michael buying The Beatles Catalog. This would have shown Michael Jackson as a visionary and shrewd businessman that he truly was. I have no idea why this was skipped.

14. Arguably the biggest event of the mid-80s, the recording of "We Are the World," is completely absent. Though I understand there might have been a problem about securing rights of so many other superstars involved, they could have easily just included Lionel Richie, Michael and Q planning the song initially and then listening to its final mix. ‘We are the World’ plays a very important part in Michael’s career.

15. While Michael was heavily involved, Landis has historically noted that Michael was actually quite shy and deferred to Landis's cinematic expertise. The film's version is seen as a way to bolster the "Michael as a singular genius" narrative at the expense of his collaborators' contributions.

16. Katherine was a firm presence in the household and often had significant disagreements with Joe regarding the children’s upbringing and the family's religious practices. The film’s "softened" version of Katherine removes her role as a strong person in the family’s history. They have shown only one scene of disagreement between her and Joe Jackson.

17. The Pepsi fire was just an inspirational hurdle. The Biopic while depicting the 1984 Pepsi commercial fire, frames his recovery purely as an inspirational comeback where he donates his settlement money to a burn ward and resiliently gets back on stage wearing a wig. It largely ignores that this specific incident that catalysed Michael’s devastating, lifelong dependency on painkillers.

18. The film acknowledges that MTV was initially reluctant to play music videos by Black artists, but it completely trivializes this massive systemic issue. The racial barrier is solved "in literally two minutes" by a cameo from Mike Myers (playing CBS Records president Walter Yetnikoff), who simply bullies the network into playing Michael's music. This minimizes the very real and long gruelling fight for representation that Michael faced. MTV's Les Garland has historically disputed the "bullying" story, claiming they were already moving toward playing MJ. By the film choosing the "Mike Myers/Yetnikoff bullying" version, they chose a "Hollywood moment" over the actual, complex corporate negotiations that took place.

19. Even Michael’s sister Rebbie Jackson (the eldest sister) is almost non-existent in the movie.

20. The film skips the making of the "Bad" music video entirely. Given that it was directed by the great director - Martin Scorsese. It was a massive cultural moment. This important part could have been shown before showing the BAD performance directly. This could have been a good transition in the end that the film lacks.

21. The film could have showed his songwriting process in more details, specifically how he beatboxed entire arrangements into recorders. The film shows him as a "performer" but rarely as the "composer/architect" he was. By showing him only as a "performer," the film reinforces the old media myth that Michael was just a "song-and-dance man" rather than an artist who held the entire arrangement in his head.

22. The movie leans way too heavily on the "Peter Pan" narrative, making it seem like Michael was just a lost, childlike soul obsessed with toys and cartoons. What it completely ignores is Michael’s massive idolization of P.T. Barnum. Michael didn’t just want to be a singer; he wanted his life to be "The Greatest Show on Earth." He was a student of the "Humbug", the art of creating mystery and curiosity to keep the world watching. By skipping his Barnum-like ambition, the film robs Michael of his agency. It makes him look like a naive child who didn’t know what he was doing, instead of the brilliant, calculated showman who was intentionally building a legend. He wasn't just playing; he was directing the world’s attention.

23. The movie shows that ‘Workin’ Day and Night’ is performed at the Victory tour’s last concert when Michael announces this is the last time he is touring with his brothers. In reality the song that was performed was ‘Shake Your Body to the Ground’.

 

Obviously, the Estate’s intention was to generate new revenue streams and impress new audiences by heavily sanitizing his life. The estate has been perfect in it.  The movie will probably become the highest grossing biopic. But the movie’s failure lies in the lack of factual content that really mattered. By scrubbing away the shadows, the Estate hasn't just sanitized his life; they’ve flattened his genius. This isn't a portrait of a man but rather a high-budget commercial for a brand that Michael himself spent his life trying to protect from being misunderstood.