Michael 2026 * * * Stars

"YOU'RE JUST ANOTHER PART OF ME"

I've always considered Michael Jackson's Off the Wall to be even better than his Thriller album. I'm serious. I mean Off the Wall's got some righteous jams with "Rock with You", "Girlfriend", and "Burn This Disco Out." With 2026's Michael, Jackson's Thriller instead gets a much bigger spotlight. And when Jackson's real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson channels Thriller's massive hits ("Beat It", "Billie Jean"), he gets the moves and the grooves of his legendary uncle just right. "I knew you were different the moment you were born." Uh, duh. 

Anyway is Michael the best musical biopic of this year or any other year? Not quite, maybe this year so far. I mean the 128-minute running time flies by, giving the audience an almost extended rock concert that tends to wander from intended drama to fan-made fandom. And is Michael dark and brooding like most historical pics about fabled pop singers? Sometimes, in fits and starts. Otherwise you're watching Jackson sing and sing and dance and sing, giving new meaning to the term "don't stop 'til you get enough" (hint hint). 

Helmed by normal action guru Antoine Fuqua and distributed by good old Lionsgate, Michael chronicles Jackson's life from his early childhood in The Jackson 5 to the late 80s where the dude dominated his Bad tour. The performances are solid (especially Colman Domingo as meddling father Joe Jackson), the sense of time and place is adequate, and Jaafar Jackson (mentioned earlier) scarily mimics his late family member to a tee and yeah, that's a good thing. 

Yup, if you grew up listening to Jackson and followed his plights (I did and actually saw him at the Victory Tour circa 1984), then Michael may kind of feel like a bloated wiki entry only boosted by Fuqua's glitzy, well-paced, and vigorous direction. If you're young and part of a new generation of listening to Michael Jackson's ditties, well you'll instead be entertained as all get-out while even finding out something new about the so-called "King of Pop." "You are not alone." Natch. 

Written by Jesse Burleson