{"id":2383361,"date":"2026-04-21T20:35:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T20:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2383361"},"modified":"2026-04-21T20:35:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T20:35:20","slug":"michael-review-michael-jackson-biopic-is-painfully-bad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/michael-review-michael-jackson-biopic-is-painfully-bad\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Michael&#8217; review: Michael Jackson biopic is painfully bad"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2026%2F04%2Fnewspress-collage-xyivjea0w-1776799895047.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall%261776785553\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--review alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n\t\t<span class=\"inline-module--review__eyebrow subsection-heading-semi__label\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tmovie review\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"inline-module--review__title subsection-heading-semi\">\n\t\t\tMICHAEL\t\t<\/h2>\n<div class=\"rating\">\n<div class=\"rating__stars\">\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--filled\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 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stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--empty\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--empty\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p>Running time: 127 minutes. Rated PG-13 (some thematic material, language, and smoking). In theaters.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>This<\/em> is it?<\/p>\n<p>How flabbergasting to see \u201cMichael,\u201d the new biopic about Michael Jackson, the best-selling solo artist of all time, crash and burn into such a cheap and embarrassing bore.<\/p>\n<p>Say what you will about Michael Jackson \u2014 and God knows there is plenty to say \u2014 he was not boring. And he had style.<\/p>\n<p>Not terrible \u201cMichael,\u201d though. I ask the generally capable director Antoine Fuqua: Antoine, are you OK? Antoine, are you OK? Are you OK, Antoine?<\/p>\n<p>Yes, \u201cMichael,\u201d with a screenplay by a team of lawyers, sorry, by John Logan, is formulaic. Most musician life stories onscreen are, and some, like \u201cElvis,\u201d are still fantastic when shackled by those familiar constraints.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter\">\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--more inline-module--columnist inline-module--more--thirds\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n<h2 class=\"inline-module__heading subsection-heading subsection-heading--single-line \">\n\t\t\tMore From\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"subsection-heading__sub\">Johnny Oleksinski<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>And, obviously, this is a gift-wrapped present to Jackson (and his oh-so-well-intentioned estate) that not only depicts the accused child molester as a squeaky clean hero, but sanctifies him.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>How to slap a halo on someone so scandalous? Have the movie abruptly stop during 1988\u2019s \u201cBad\u201d tour, years before any sexual abuse allegations were lodged against him. \u201cMichael\u201d presents Jackson as totally flawless. A god from Gary.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s Jackson donating money to child burn victims.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI need to do more for them,\u201d he says. Yikes.<\/p>\n<p>Here he is in a toy store signing autographs for another group of kids. Yikes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Jaafar Jackson plays his uncle Michael Jackson in \u201cMichael.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">\u00a9Lions Gate\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In almost every moment of \u201cMichael,\u201d the King of Pop, played with panache and detail by his nephew Jaafar Jackson, is flashing a megawatt grin when he\u2019s not staring longingly at his copy of \u201cPeter Pan.\u201d This Michael is perfect.<\/p>\n<p>That we\u2019re getting a paint-by-numbers hagiography following his humble origins in 1960s Indiana all the way to his peak of\u00a0global superstardom is assumed before the film starts.<\/p>\n<p>What I did not expect of the movie about arguably the greatest entertainer of all time, however, was that it would be so devoid of, um, entertainment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s what people want,\u201d says Michael to producer Quincy Jones in the recording studio. \u201cPure escapism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Right. So, where\u2019s that?<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The biopic tracks Michael\u2019s life from growing up in Gary, Indiana, all the way to the 1988 \u201cBad\u201d tour. <span class=\"credit\">\u00a9Lions Gate\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Beats me. When \u201cDon\u2019t Stop \u2018Til You Get Enough\u201d evolves Michael from a golden-voiced littlest member of the Jackson 5 to an adult icon in 1979, you feel nothing.<\/p>\n<p>The goosebumps we anticipate during the famous 1983 Motown 25 performance of \u201cBillie Jean\u201d and the filming of the \u201cThriller\u201d music video never pop up because they\u2019re shot in such a pedestrian, buzz-killing manner.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>At that staid concert, the camera pans hypnotically back and forth like a yard sprinkler as extras have fake-looking paroxysms in the crowd. We\u2019re not engaged at all and we never get a real sense of how massive Jackson was because \u201cMichael\u201d is so limited in scope and lacking in flair.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The songs don\u2019t give you goosebumps. <span class=\"credit\">\u00a9Lions Gate\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Queen biopic \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d had plenty of issues, but the electricity of the recreation of the Live Aid concert was not one of them.\u00a0While \u201cMichael\u201d shares the same producer as the Freddie Mercury flick \u2014 and a nearly identical performance from Mike Myers as a jokey music exec \u2014 it boasts none of the nostalgic thrills. <\/p>\n<p>Since \u201cMichael\u201d isn\u2019t burdened with how weird, creepy and sad Jackson\u2019s life became, shouldn\u2019t there be an abundance of fun and flash? How about some emotional household drama?<\/p>\n<p>Michael\u2019s oppressive father and Jackson 5 manager Joe Jackson is a mere meanie here as played by Colman Domingo, but not monstrous or truly threatening, even when he belts his kids. He\u2019s more of a cranky Archie Bunker.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The \u201cThriller\u201d music video is recreated. <span class=\"credit\">\u00a9Lions Gate\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That doesn\u2019t add much juice to the main thread, which is Michael gaining the courage to leave Joe and the Jackson 5 behind with the help of lawyer John Branca (Miles Teller made to look like Jim Belushi). It\u2019s hard for viewers to rally around a contract \u2014 the rift needed to be more about family ties.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout, we learn jack squat about Tito, Jermaine, Jackie, Marlon and Randy, except that they refuse to play a game of Twister with their brother. So, the King of Pop instead enlists Bubbles the chimp. That\u2019s right \u2014 there is a scene in which Michael Jackson and Bubbles the chimp play Twister underscored by \u201cBlame It On The Boogie.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>LaToya is mentioned a couple times, while Janet has been wiped from this version of history. In every sense, this is \u201cAttorneys Present: The Michael Jackson Story.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The few dramas that could have created a compelling narrative and beefed up Michael\u2019s character are carelessly glossed over, as though any setbacks would make this Zeus look too human.  <\/p>\n<p>Michael\u2019s fire injury during a 1983 Pepsi commercial shoot that burned his face and neck, and his diagnosis with Vitiligo, the disease that caused his skin to become pasty white, are rushed. It\u2019s much more important, apparently, that we see him kiss a llama.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>\u201cMichael\u201d ends suggesting a sequel could be in the works. <span class=\"credit\">\u00a9Lions Gate\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>What\u2019s unfortunate is that 29-year-old Jaafar is genuinely quite good, especially when it comes to dancing. He can moonwalk with the best of them and has an unteachable spark. So does Juliano Krue Valdi as \u201cI\u2019ll Be There\u201d-singing Young Michael.<\/p>\n<p>But the movie is too poorly directed and absymally written for anyone to escape unscathed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And, wouldn\u2019t you know, it\u2019s only Part One!<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMichael\u201d ends, hilariously, with its own version of \u201cJames Bond will return.\u201d \u201cHis story continues,\u201d a message reads.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Yeah, sure. It is completely moronic to think that the same people who could not even include the word \u201cJanet\u201d would make a sequel without most of Jackson\u2019s biggest hits; that shows him having sleepovers with eight year olds, dangling a nine-month-old baby out a hotel window and being administered propofol nightly to treat insomnia.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>No matter what it says, they don\u2019t really wanna be startin\u2019 somethin\u2019.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source celebrity.land \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>movie review MICHAEL Running time: 127 minutes. Rated PG-13 (some thematic material, language, and smoking). In theaters. This is it? How flabbergasting to see \u201cMichael,\u201d the new biopic about Michael Jackson, the best-selling solo artist of all time, crash and burn into such a cheap and embarrassing bore. Say what you will about Michael Jackson [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2383362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25174],"tags":[21741,21993,304696,304995,21912],"class_list":["post-2383361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gossip","tag-entertainment","tag-films","tag-michael-jackson","tag-movie-reviews","tag-movies"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Michael-review-Michael-Jackson-biopic-is-painfully-bad.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2383361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2383361"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2383361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2383363,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2383361\/revisions\/2383363"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2383362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2383361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2383361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2383361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}