The ‘Michael’ Biopic Won’t Show the King of Pop in a ‘Bad’ Light

Your typical Michael Jackson fan may well find Michael a thriller of movie. It has few pretensions at depth but functions as a highlights overview of his life up to 1988 with pit stops aplenty at major points along the way — the filming of the “Thriller” video, the unveiling of the “moonwalk,” the purchase of Bubbles the chimp — with a winsome performance by Jaafar Jackson (Jermaine Jackson’s son) as the King of Pop himself.

The rest of us may be more underwhelmed.

Michael  *** (3/5 stars)
Directed by: Antoine Fuqua
Written by: John Logan
Starring: Jaafar Jackson, Colman Domingo, Nia Long, Miles Teller, Colman Domingo
Running time: 127 minutes

Out of curiosity, before writing this review I did an online search for “Michael movie 2026 reviews” and “hagiography.” If you were playing a drinking game based on how many times you saw the latter word pop up in reviews, you’d be well advised to not drive or operate heavy machinery afterwards. This is Jackson given a buff and shine (by many consenting adults) that rubs away any possible sharp edges. It also rubs away anything that might prove to be in any way insightful.

Admittedly this approach is hardly a surprise. And a quick look through the film’s credits tells you exactly why the perspective is so vanilla. John Branca and John McClain, who are co-executors of Michael’s estate, are listed as producers. Five of the Jackson siblings are also listed as executive producers. As is one of Michael’s sons, Prince. With those folks steering the agenda, you know that ultimately this film is going to be less about celebrating the legacy of a legendary entertainer that it is about boosting the brand. And nary a whiff of controversy will be allowed to sully it.

So our leading man is not presented as a living, breathing human being with an actual personality, but as a sterile product assembled by committee. By ending the film in the late 1980s, it can handily avoid dealing with the sex abuse scandals that were to come. But even so, by this point, Michael Jackson was a highly talented individual who was also, to say the least, a very complicated man. Yet the film studiously avoids digging into anything that might veer from the overall narrative of blandness. Just about every film dealing with show business addresses the most common areas of controversy: drugs, money, sex. All of which you could find in Jackson’s story. But aside from some subtle foreshadowing about his drug use (due to his use of painkillers following an accident while filming a Pepsi commercial in 1984), none of those subjects raise their nasty heads.

Instead, the film relentlessly pushes the positive. Michael is shown bonding with the growing menagerie (a rat, a llama, Bubbles the chimp) at his home, explaining that he sees the animals as his friends, and seems contented with that. It’s meant to be a poignant moment, but also a cute one. The real Michael talked in interviews about his pervasive loneliness and isolation, and how he’d walk the streets of his neighborhood, “looking for someone to talk to.”

Behind the glittery costumes and sunglasses, Jackson was a man of profound contradictions, ambitious and driven, yet also plagued by insecurities (particularly about his physical appearance) that no amount of success seemed able to assuage. A portrait of this Michael Jackson would have offered a more well-rounded view of a personality who was flawed, but all the more human because of that.

Instead, the film opts for a one-note portrayal of its subject, a surface view that overlooks the real drama often going on behind the scenes. Jackson’s appearance at the Motown 25th Anniversary celebration in 1983 is an obvious high point; that’s where we first saw the famous moonwalk. Yet this iconic moment almost didn’t happen. As he revealed in his memoir Moonwalk, Jackson initially declined to appear on the show because he wasn’t interested in being on television (“My whole attitude towards TV is fairly negative”).

He finally agreed to do the spot because he was going to be allowed to do it solo after singing with his Jackson 5 brothers. He even got in a subtle dig when his brothers left the stage following their nostalgic set, saying “Those were good songs. I like those songs a lot. But especially I like — the new songs.” Cue his mesmerizing performance of “Billie Jean.”

None of this informs the film. Instead, we get a story that’s not so much sanitized as it is dumbed down, a film that, as Jackson’s daughter Paris has observed, “panders to a very specific section of my dad’s fandom that still lives in the fantasy.” The shallow script offers little in the way of character development, limiting the performers to speaking in cliches: “I knew you were special from the moment you were born” (Michael’s mother); “Life’s not easy” (Michael’s bodyguard); “Music brings people together” (Michael himself).

For all the kudos Jaafar is receiving for his performance, it’s hard to say how good an actor he really is. Because he, like the rest of the cast, has been given so little to work with. Most praise has been lavished on his note-perfect recreation of Jackson’s signature moves (something Juliano Krue Valdi, who plays the young Michael, also excels at). His scenes with his mother, Katherine (a sympathetic Nia Long), following the Pepsi commercial accident are the most affecting. But generally he doesn’t do much more than deliver a shy smile on cue.

Jackson’s rise is shown as being virtually effortless, with no obstacles as he ascends from the Jackson 5 to his first solo success with Off the Wall to the cultural phenomenon that was Thriller. Like any fairy tale, there is a villain, in this case Michael’s abusive father, Joseph (played by a thuggish Colman Domingo), who embodies all that’s negative in this story (conveniently, the real Joseph died in 2018). In the film’s central conflict Michael is first dominated by, then finally stands up to, the man who physically beat him and psychologically tortured him, a proper journey for a hero. The only other family member who gets a look in is Jackson’s long-suffering mother. The rest of the family are basically ciphers, relegated to the background, if they’re represented at all (Jackson siblings Reebee, Janet, and Randy aren’t portrayed in the film).

In short, by keeping the narrative super-safe and offensive to no one, Michael ends up being rather dull, aside from the musical sequences. And, surely, that’s entirely the point of drafting director Antoine Fuqua who grew up making music videos to helm the whole project. But if the music is what you’re most interested in, why not just stay home and watch the real thing online?