A Movie Review: “Michael” Celebrates Music That Changed The World

By Stacy M. Brown
Special to the New Journal and Guide

The “Michael” movie has arrived, opening in Berlin – one of the strongest fan bases anywhere in the world for Michael Jackson – and let’s just get straight to it.

This film is a Thriller.

That choice to launch in Berlin tells you everything you need to know. This film understands its audience. It knows who has carried Michael Jackson’s music, his image, and his legacy across generations and across continents. It takes this reporter back to December 2024, sitting in a Las Vegas hotel suite with Jackson Estate Co-Executor John Branca, who spoke about this project with a level of confidence that didn’t leave room for doubt. He talked about honoring the music, about giving the fans something worthy of what Michael created.

That’s exactly what this is.

The Black Press was among those provided with a special screening on March 31, weeks before the official opening, and from the opening seconds, the film makes its move. “Wanna Be Startin’ Something” hits, and it doesn’t build slowly, it drops you right into it. The rhythm, the sound, the movement. The same song that opened tours like Victory and Bad now opens the film, and it works the same way. You’re in. Immediately.

Then it takes you back – Gary, Indiana, where the estate continued to honor fans by hosting a private screening for residents of Michael’s hometown on April 13.

The film isn’t glossy. It isn’t soft. And it doesn’t pretend that Jackson had anything close to a typical childhood. There’s no playing outside, no carefree days, no sense of ease. What you see is structure, expectation, and pressure that never lets up. A household where greatness wasn’t encouraged but demanded.

Colman Domingo steps into the role of Joseph Jackson and doesn’t just play him, he locks into him. The posture, the tone, the control. It’s not exaggerated. It’s not theatrical. It feels real, particularly if you knew the late family patriarch.

And then there’s Jaafar Jackson.

This is where everything could have gone wrong. But he settles into it. There are moments when you stop thinking about who’s playing the role and just see Michael. Both Domingo and Jaafar should easily have their names bandied about when decision-makers decide on whom to nominate for some of Hollywood’s most prestigious awards.

Indeed, the Antoine Fuqua-directed and John Logan-written film makes a clear decision about the rise of an incredible and sometimes indescribable talent.

It stays with the music. And yes, that decision to do that was shaped in part by reality. Recent reports suggest that the film originally went further, but legal issues forced a complete reworking of the third act, shifting the ending to the height of the “Bad” era.

What you get is Michael at his peak – on stage, in control.

And, whether those reports are true or not, the choice works because fans and perhaps those beaten up by the many struggles defining today could use a reminder of where they were when the Jacksons hit the Motown 25 stage, and Michael earned a telephone call from Fred Astaire and an Emmy nomination for his electrifying performance of “Billie Jean.”

With the obvious decline of the music business today, a needed reminder of how Michael made MTV accept Black artists and how “Thriller” became and remains the most successful and most talked about music video in history. And with a war currently going on in the Middle East and the seemingly never-ending friction domestically, we are provided with a compelling reminder about how Jackson made rival gang members call a truce as he engaged them and invited them to participate in his landmark “Beat It” video.

Great attention to detail also allows the film to provide space for Bill Bray.

Bray wasn’t just Michael’s head of security. He was presence, protection, and guidance. If you saw Bray, you knew Michael was nearby. And when he steps in to check Joseph, you understand his importance immediately.

Then there’s Branca.

Not just as a character, but as a force behind the business. The man who helped orchestrate deals that changed music forever including the acquisition of the ATV catalog, known to many as the Beatles catalog.

The film doesn’t over-explain it. But it’s there.

Janet Jackson isn’t in the film, and neither is oldest sister Rebbie, whom Michael gifted her only hit song, “Centipede.” Yes, people will notice. Reports say Janet declined involvement. However, La Toya appears, and that choice seems to carry its own meaning.

And the family’s presence behind the scenes matters – four of Jackson’s brothers, including the late Tito, and Michael’s son Prince, serve as executive producers.

By the end, you’re not thinking about what’s missing.

You’re thinking about the music. The movement. The feeling.

For anyone looking for a biopic that captures Michael Jackson at his peak, that captures brilliance. “Michael” is that movie. It’s a thriller.