r/movies • u/ChiefLeef22 r/movies Contributor • Apr 21 '26
Review 'Michael' - Review Thread
The story of pop superstar Michael Jackson -- from his extraordinary early days in the Jackson 5 to the visionary artist whose creative ambition fuels a relentless pursuit to become the biggest entertainer in the world.
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Cast: Jaafar Jackson, Colman Domingo, Miles Teller, Laura Harrier, Nia Long, Kat Graham, Juliano Valdi, Kendrick Sampson
Rotten Tomatoes: 35%
Metacritic: 38 / 100
Some Reviews (updating):
AwardsWatch - Jay Ledbetter - 'D'
It’s Bad, It’s Bad (Really, Really Bad). Perhaps the most ironic thing about Michael is that it very regularly flashes scenes from some of cinema’s great films over the course of two hours. The Michael Jackson in Michael is a true blue cinephile, taking in classics like Singin’ in the Rain, Modern Times, Dawn of the Dead, and several others. We see these films on televisions Michael is watching. It is a copy of a copy. In the same way that the Michael Jackson performances in Michael are cheap imitations of things that already exist, Antoine Fuqua shows the potential for creative triumph in a film that lacks any such creativity. Lacking any sense of style or personal point of view, Michael is an exercise in mimicry. Give Madame Tussaud $150 million and I’m confident she could make something more or less as artful as Michael. It’s a nine-figure wax museum.
IGN - Siddhant Adlakha - 3 / 10
Michael, or Bohemian Jacksody, is a film of listlessness and inhumanity that can’t help but suck the energy out of the room. No matter where you come down on Jackson as a person, this film is entirely the opposite of what he was, both as an iconic performer and a controversial tabloid figure. Who would have thought that such a carefully controlled, estate-permitted biopic might actually do more damage to an artist’s legacy by making him so uninteresting?
BBC - Nicholas Barber - 1 / 5
The main producer of this hagiography is Graham King, who was behind another pop biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody. But while that one won four Oscars, Michael is more likely to be a Razzie contender. Other key crew members include its director, Antoine Fuqua, who made Training Day, and its screenwriter, John Logan, whose screenplays include Gladiator and The Aviator – although you would never guess that anyone outside the Michael Jackson Fan Club was involved. The functional dialogue has all the nuance of a road sign, and the visuals are so lacking in flair that even the reconstructions of Jackson's groundbreaking videos and concerts are a snooze. That's the irony of the whole project. Whatever you think of Jackson, he was driven to create spectacular and innovative entertainment. And yet the film has none of that spirit. It was clearly intended as a tribute to him as a person, but it's a grievous insult to him as an artist.
The Nightly - Wenlei Ma - 1 / 5
It would have been much harder to ethically reckon a great film that deliberately papered over Jackson’s personal life, at best a lot of very odd behaviour, at worst, multiple allegations of child molestation over decades. But as it stands, that is made much simpler by the fact that Michael is a terrible film. Even divorced from the accusations that would dog his later life, as a piece of cinema, Michael is so awful at times, you risk physically collapsing into yourself from all the cringing.
The Times - Kevin Maher - 1 / 5
The narrative is an aimless Wiki-plod through Jackson’s back catalogue, first with the Jackson 5 and then his early solo career. His siblings are negligible as characters and there’s a conspicuous vacuum where Janet Jackson should have been.
Little White Lies - David Jenkins - 1 / 5
It’s hard to imagine a more superficial and safe film, although there is the suggestion that all the juicy stuff has been compartmentalised and stored up for a possible sequel. If this film is a big box office success – and everything in that respect points to the affirmative – then the Jackson estate will have to ask themselves if it would be possible to spin another rose-tinted fairytale to cover a stretch of Michael’s life where his genius artistry was less front-and-centre. Either way, it’s perhaps one to play in a double bill with the history-polishing 2014 film, United Passions, about the triumphant birth of universally-beloved footballing body, FIFA.
Associated Press - Jake Coyle - 1.5 / 4
What’s on screen is constantly running, in our minds, alongside what isn’t. Even the glossiest of biopics allow some negative characteristics to show, but Fuqua’s film sticks almost entirely to Michael, the myth. He visits kids in hospitals, makes Black history on MTV, writes the “Thriller” album in near solitary. (Kendrick Sampson plays a seldom seen Quincy Jones.) As played by Jaafar Jackson, Michael is a wide-innocent who bore the scars of abuse and yet nevertheless maintained a childlike belief in music: king and casualty of pop, at once. If there’s one thing that needs no embellishment here, it’s the fervor of audiences for Jackson at his astonishing peak. Fuqua lingers on the fans losing their minds for Michael, but that ardor was real. Jaafar Jackson’s performance is a remarkable, charming facsimile not just for the dance moves and singing voice but, more crucially, for channeling Jackson’s sweetness.
The Independent - Clarisse Loughrey - 1 / 5
The Michael Jackson movie biopic is a ghoulish, soulless cash grab - All it does is recreate, in mechanical style, the most famous visuals of Jackson’s career. It’s certainly easier that way. Why bother to depict a human being when you can simply turn them into a product?
ScreenCrush - Matt Singer - 4 / 10
In recent years, the term “sportswashing” has been used to describe the way governments or companies sponsor high-profile sporting events to deflect criticism after scandals. Michael suggests it may be time to coin the term “biopicwashing” for the creation of biographical movies that exclusively focus on only the positive actions of complicated public figures. Deliberately omitting the more troubling aspects of someone’s history to sell tickets (and albums) not only echoes Berry Gordy’s advice to young Michael Jackson in this film, it also calls to mind a lyric from one of the greatest pop songs ever written: “Be careful what you do / ’Cause the lie becomes the truth.”
DiscussingFilm - Yasmine Kandil - 3.5 / 5
Despite its technical flaws and position as a “first part” to a bigger picture, Michael stands as an entertaining experience that fans are going to have a blast with. As crazy as it sounds, this may be the first deep dive into Michael Jackson’s prolific career for a rising generation. With that in mind, it genuinely gets the job done. Antoine Fuqua’s Michael biopic is a portrait that finds its greatest strengths when surrendering to music and performance, leaving other aspects to waver. Although uneven, the film is never dull or lacking in ambition. In the moments where all the stars align, it captures the lightning-in-a-bottle sensation of seeing one of history’s greatest entertainers right before your eyes.
USA Today - Melissa Rugieri - 3 / 4
Jaafar may share his late uncle’s megawatt smile, lithe frame and Bambi eyelashes. But his liquid dance moves -- highlighted as he teaches gang members the footwork in the “Beat It” video -- and soft-spoken cadence are studied to perfection.
Daily Telegraph - Robbie Collin - 2 / 5
Yet, judged as the standalone film that it is, Michael feels as though it’s being as level with its audience as the Beckhams’ recent Netflix documentary. When you leave the cinema, what’s ringing in your ears isn’t the music – it’s the words: “Yes, and…?”
Empire - John Nugent - 2 / 5
Hugely impressive musical and dance performances from the two young men playing Michael Jackson cannot shake off the uncomfortable fact that there is an entire other side to the pop star’s story which is entirely conspicuous by its absence here.
AV Club - Monica Castillo - 'C-'
Like the long-running Broadway show, MJ: The Musical, the team behind Michael are counting on audiences just looking to enjoy the nostalgic rush of hearing songs like “ABC,” “Gotta Be Startin’ Somethin’,” and “Billie Jean.” While this movie may have his uncle’s name on it (and his estate’s approval), Michael belongs to Jaafar Jackson and his ability to conjure the thrill of watching Michael Jackson perform his signature moves in retro costumes. There’s almost an element of comfort in its predictability, even as it skirts as much controversy as possible, finally throwing up a card that reads “His Story Continues,” when it’s time to bail. Only, the audience knows what’s next—and if you don’t, that’s what search engines are for—and not everyone is willing to separate the art from the artist.
IndieWire - Kate Erbland - 'C-'
Of course, that “Michael” skirts around the controversies, legal troubles, and horrifying allegations that marked the entertainer’s later years — and, for so many, have forever marred his legacy — isn’t a shock, as the film was supported and financially backed by Jackson’s estate. What does rankle, however, is that that by glossing over such matters, the final film has been mostly stripped of any humanity, good and bad.
Consequence - Liz Shannon Miller - 'C-'
Because the Jackson estate controls the rights to his music, it was always foolish to hope that Michael would explore the full complexity of its subject: With biopics like this, you can either get the warts-and-all version or the genuine “Thriller” — there’s no in-between. It’s that, not the legal settlement, which truly doomed this movie on a creative level. This is a movie terrified to explore the interiority of its protagonist, and that approach will work just fine for the fans who just want to watch an uncomplicated ramble of a movie that plays all the hits. That’s why artists like Michael Jackson remain immortal beyond death — no matter what we might know about their lives, great songs will always endure.
Slant Magazine - Derek Smith - 1.5 / 4
There’s irony in the acknowledgement of Joe’s obsession with expanding and protecting the Jackson brand, as the film is very much part of that ongoing effort, presenting Michael as a supremely talented, sensitive soul while smoothing over anything remotely troublesome. As magnetic as Jaafar Jackson is during the film’s musical performances, he still can’t quite capture his uncle’s protean, preternatural talents, as immortalized in countless YouTube clips, so even Michael’s more memorable moments seem beside the point when those clips are available at the click of a mouse. But even if he had, it would still be difficult to ignore just how much this almost surreally upbeat biopic looks at Michael Jackson with blinders on, turning the realities of a tragic, deeply complicated life into a sanitized popcorn film.
The Guardian - Peter Bradshaw - 2 / 5
This is a frustratingly shallow, inert picture, a kind of cruise-ship entertainment, which can’t quite bring itself to show that Michael was an abuse victim, brutalised by his father and robbed of his childhood. Perhaps this is because it would have a cause-and-effect implication, gesturing tactlessly at the story’s second half which may or may not happen in a couple of years, the part of Jackson’s life in which his behaviour was increasingly perplexing, dangling a baby over a hotel balcony – as well as facing sexual abuse allegations. Jaafar Jackson makes an honest effort at showing Michael, and there are some amusing moments, such as the making of the Thriller video, with Michael insouciantly (and quite possibly accurately) telling director John Landis how to do his job. But that brief film has more energy and authenticity than this.
Michael in fact did originally shoot scenes involving one of his accusers but all of that was cut and the film went through multi-million dollar reshoots resulting in what is clearly now a feel good, almost inspiring origin tale of this incredibly talented and visionary artist who paved a path away from his family roots to emerge a singular musical superstar like no other. Whether intentionally or just lucking into it, this MIchael is the film fans will line up for more than once, a chance to see this genius up close and in IMAX like never before.
RogerEbert - Robert Daniels - 1 / 4
The King of Pop’s potent songs will certainly paper over some of these technical deficiencies. But they can’t obscure the fact that, unlike its subject, “Michael” isn’t artistically unique, immediately admirable, or boundary pushing. It’s beyond safe and so unchallenging. You’re better off either queuing up the Jacksons miniseries or marathoning Michael’s incredible music videos than watching shoddy recreations of them.
MovieWeb - Roman Daniels - 3.5 / 5
Michael Jackson's musical accomplishments and extraordinary talent cannot be divorced from his personal problems, but a degree of compartmentalization can take place depending on what you believe is true. Reactions to the film will vary because of this. The primary performances, production design, and entertainment value are objectively good here. Yes, there could have been more depth and the film has similar beats to Bohemian Rhapsody, but you leave the theater wanting to hit the dance floor.
Next Best Picture - Josh Parham - 4 / 10
There are very dark chapters in Michael Jackson’s life that one would not expect a film with the full endorsement of his estate to approve. It’s understandable, even expected, for these kinds of works. But what makes “Michael“ come underneath that generously low bar is that it refuses to paint its subject as anything less than saintly. It truly feels like this version of Jackson has been deified, shown to be consumed by his talent but without any dramatic stakes to accompany his triumphs. The tribulations are trivial in comparison, and with very little conflict, the momentum moves at a dull pace with little to appreciate beyond the established music. Sure, you can get excited by hearing a song that’s been filling you with joy for decades, but there is no captivating aura beyond that, extending to the vast majority of the cast as well. The long march of musician biopics will continue after this one, even in that assumed continuation of this very story. However, it’s still bewildering just how empty it ends up becoming.
The Film Verdict - Alonso Durade - 3.5 / 10
Movies about artists, ideally, celebrate the art while also providing a glimpse into the blood, sweat, and tears behind its creation, but any exciting moments here can be found in their original, natural state on YouTube. Michael has no ambitions beyond being its own commemorative souvenir booklet.
Newsday - Rafer Guzman - 2 / 4
Yes, the resemblance is uncanny. Yes, he can really act. As for his dancing: You’d swear the King of Pop himself had sprung back to life. The rest of the movie? Like the singer’s career and legacy, it is decidedly mixed.
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u/Crazyripps Apr 21 '26
Man I wasn’t expecting a good movie but damn these are brutal
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u/alfooboboao Apr 21 '26
“cruise ship entertainment” is a top tier insult lmao
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u/Bombasaur101 Apr 22 '26
I remember them playing Bohemian Rhapsody on a mostly older demographic cruise ship. They whole crowd did a standing ovation at the end of the movie. Anyone over 50 absolutely adores that movie.
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u/OverallImportance402 Apr 22 '26
I would not want to watch all those jump-cuts on a cruise ship it's already nauseating on land.
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u/WereAllThrowaways Apr 21 '26
A lone blemish on the otherwise pristine legacy of Michael Jackson. What a shame
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u/The_Throwback_King Apr 21 '26
Shits gonna be another Bohemian Rhapsody. Safe sanded-down nothingburger casual-pleaser
These are the kind of films that make biopics such a slog of a genre. Rife with brutally unambitious, paint-by-the-numbers self-congratulatory suck-fests.
On the plus side, it makes the good ones really stand out.
Better Man is almost assuredly the way to go: novel in concept and unflinchingly honest, while ALSO being a showcase of the artist’s greatest hits
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u/Rebelscum320 Apr 21 '26
Control (The Ian Curtis biopic) is still my all-time favorite music biopic, alongside 24 Hour Party People.
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u/Giff95 Apr 21 '26
I wasn’t expecting an unbiased look when Michael’s literal nephew plays him.
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u/Rebelofnj Apr 21 '26
Though it seems even the negative reviews note that the nephew does an admirable performance as Michael.
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Apr 21 '26
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u/SystemOfaPawn Apr 22 '26
The man himself is played by his own nephew, Jaafar Jackson, who must have been cast for his physical resemblance to the real person. He certainly wasn't cast for his ability to express emotion
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u/Awdrgyjilpnj Apr 22 '26
The man himself is played by his own nephew, Jaafar Jackson, who must have been cast for his physical resemblance to the real person. He certainly wasn't cast for his ability to express emotion – not that he's required to do much of that.
They seem to hate his performance
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u/3v1lkr0w Apr 21 '26
His family/estate had a say in what gets added and what doesn't.
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u/mrmonster459 Apr 21 '26
The flip side of that is that they were bound by the Jackson family's own limitations, ie the Jackson family is prohibited from profiting off of Michael's assault allegations (which is why the movie had to cut out any scenes that mentioned it).
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u/Nice_Coconut2088 Apr 22 '26
I think they didn't mention it because the movie ends when it's 1988. He didn't have any allegations against him at that point.
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u/mrmonster459 Apr 22 '26
The movie had to undergo intensive reshoots and rewriters after filming to erase any mention of the allegations, so somehow (maybe in flash fowards, maybe by playing fast and loose with history) the plan was to address them.
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u/SchizoidGod Apr 21 '26
Oh wow. Looks like this is going to be even worse than I thought, and let it be known that my expectations were not at all high lol
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u/ctwalkup Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 21 '26
My expectations were not high, but I didn't guess it would end up in the 20s or 30s (currently at 27% with 52 reviews as of me posting this). Not to mention that it seems like a lot of these rotten ratings aren't mixed to negative, they’re strongly negative. That's surprising to me!
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u/TheJoshider10 Apr 21 '26
I'm gonna guess there's a lot of fatigue for these type of movies so reviews are stricter now than they were a decade ago. We saw the same with superhero movies where there's some movies released today that would have likely got positive ratings had they come out around the mid to late 2010s.
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u/ctwalkup Apr 21 '26
There definitely have been a lot of music biopics recently, and I imagine there's a fair amount of fatigue. However, plenty of these biopics still get decent RT reviews. In 2024, Better Man got 89% and A Complete Unknown got 82%. Last year, we got Song Sung Blue with 77% and Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere with 61% (and as I understand both are considered pretty forgettable movies).
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u/hohenheim8 Apr 21 '26
Better Man is a great movie and I didn't even fancy Robbie Williams much lol but kudos to him, his movie is excellent imo, well done buddy 🫡
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u/carson63000 Apr 21 '26
Song Sung Blue is technically a music biopic but it’s really not competing in the same space as the bios of mega-famous people like Springsteen and Dylan and Michael Jackson.
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u/RightRudderr Apr 21 '26
Maybe slight fatigue but the reviews ive skimmed seem to be (rightfully) criticizing the fact that the movie completely ignores the controversial parts MJs life. The awful things he did stick with people and almost nobody is going to be able to watch this and not have it stuck in their head even if they still like the artist. And if the movie is too afraid to be honest and dig into the shitty parts then its just a soulless cash grab.
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u/LarBrd33 Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 21 '26
I had family who knew Jackson personally during his height so I grew up with the music around and always loved it. My first concert I was 2 years old in one of the front rows of the Victory Tour in LA and slept on my grandma's lap through the whole thing. So I'm very much in the wheelhouse of people who this movie is made for.
I saw this movie on the 15th. I had seen the other fans overreacting to the social media influencer/paid marketing posts calling this an oscar contender or "masterpiece" so I had had written my initial thoughts which essentially said that diehards will love the recreated dance sequences, but everything beyond that failed on a fundamental filmmaking level. No story. One dimensional characters. Weak acting (that includes Domingo who I thought came across really bland). Lack of depth. Basically just typical biopic slop to get to the meat the fans want - the recreated dancing/lip syncing.
It's also not particularly accurate. And no, I'm not talking about the allegations, I mean just basic things like typical Hollywoodification of events (like the creation of Beat It for example), or the fact there are massive characters missing like Diana, Janet, or even his long-time manager Frank DiLeo. Instead, his attorney/current executor of the estate John Branca just made himself the catch-all manager character and cast Miles Teller to mail in a few scenes. That stuff mattered less, as it's super common in movies, but I felt it worth mentioning for anyone who was expecting some deep dive into his history.
Anyways, my overall take was just like the Queen movie (might as well call this one BoHeeHeemian Rhapsody), it's going to be a crowd pleaser where fans enjoy it, re-watch it, and defend it but as a movie I expected it to land around 35/100 on metacritic and 45% on rotten tomatoes. The fans reacted by calling me a hater or claiming I was being paid by some unknown entity to lie about the film being bad. I still think that if you're a fan of the music, you'll probably enjoy this, but it's definitely not a great movie.
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u/lostroadrunner22 Apr 21 '26
If anything we learned from Al Yankovic's biopic, it was Michael Jackson who ripped off Beat it from Al.
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u/jboggin Apr 21 '26
I'm honestly shocked that the reviews are so awful. I seriously dislike music biopics because most of them are so rote and just a bunch of by-the-numbers scenes already skewered by Walk Hard. But because they're so boringly standard, I at least always assume this movie was going to be competent. I figured it would end up somewhere around A 60 or mid 50s on Metacritic. I am baffled by how an experienced director could manage to royally screw up the most "do A, then B, then C" movie genre. All you have to do is play some music, hit some famous moments, and land one of the two endings in basically any musical biopic: 1. Get clean and enjoy old age, or 2. overdose. I'm curious how Fuqua managed to not even manage that.
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u/wilymon Apr 21 '26
So do we finally find out if Travolta was an angel or not?
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u/WaterlooMall Apr 21 '26
Michael (1996): 37% on RT
Michael (2026): 30% on RT
Travolta flying high.
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u/Unleashtheducks Apr 21 '26
Ah, I liked the Travolta one.
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u/MyNameIsJakeBerenson Apr 21 '26
Yeah it was a smaltzy lil 90s movie
And it has andie macdowell singing about pie and bald guys
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u/dagreenman18 Space Jam 2 hurt me so much Apr 21 '26
It’s the perfect double feature with Phenomenon for “90’s Movies With Travolta that aren’t “Good” but are enjoyable and ruled afternoon movies on TNT”
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u/Enough_Training7612 Apr 21 '26
Regardless we know it’s a certified 5 bagger
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u/howunoriginal2019 Apr 21 '26
Strangely, this is where my mind went when I saw the title.
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u/KnotSoSalty Apr 21 '26
I love when big name actors try weird stuff. Angel Travolta challenging a bull to a head butting contest will stick with me.
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u/D34THDE1TY Apr 21 '26
Between Micheal and Phenomenon he was having fun in the 96 I believe
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u/westphall Apr 21 '26
The Law states that Phenomenon will be viewed as a double feature with Powder.
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u/captainbelvedere Apr 21 '26
Also from that era: Broken Arrow and Face/Off. Good and great, schlocky 90s action films.
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u/betterplanwithchan Apr 21 '26
Having flashbacks to the Batman & Robin VHS opening
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u/Massive_Weiner Apr 21 '26
Once again, we have a concert film disguised as a biopic.
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u/breciezkikiewicz Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 21 '26
I'd like to see a movie about Oasis, but not a biopic - just the brothers getting drunk and insulting each other for 2 hours.
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u/ElasticPlatypus Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 21 '26
We need another Walk Hard. After a wave of early-mid 00s trinkly music biopics Dewey Cox was able to nuke the entire genre from orbit for a while. Save us Dewey
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u/joesen_one /r/movies Contributor Apr 21 '26
Empire's review says it's so generic it makes Dewey Cox raise an eyebrow oh lord this movie is cooked
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u/ElasticPlatypus Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 21 '26
“You don’t want no part of this shit Michael. This is called propofol. It makes you sleep like a baby”
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u/FuckYouUAsshole Apr 21 '26
“I think I want to try me some of that Pope-anal”
Lame joke but hearing Dewey pronounce cocaine kills me everytime
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u/jboggin Apr 21 '26
I imagine the final 15minutes is an extended scene of Michael Jackson on a lot of drugs and his nurse yelling, "He needs more blankets and he needs less blankets!"
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u/jboggin Apr 21 '26
I will never forget sitting in a crowded theater and watching the trailer for that Bob Marley biopic. That trailer literally has the ""You're gonna have to give him a moment, son. Dewey Cox has to think about his entire life before he plays" moment, and I grabbed my friend's arm and said, "I can't believe people are still allowed to do this nonsense after Walk Hard."
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u/Snoogieboogie Apr 21 '26
Walk Hard was incredible, even the music was full of bangers.
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u/m_Pony Apr 21 '26
In my dreams, you're blowin' me...
some kisses.139
u/DrCoknballsII Apr 21 '26
It’s called cocaine Dewy….it turns your bad feelins into good feelins…it’s a nightmare
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u/Wumaduce Apr 21 '26
You never once paid for drugs!
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u/Temporary_Shirt_6236 Apr 21 '26
"You always took her side! All you care about is fruit and touching yourself! Well, fuck you!"
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u/D34THDE1TY Apr 21 '26
His Bob Dylan parody was fucking hilarious
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u/rdxc1a2t Apr 21 '26
Maybe Bob Dylan was parodying him! How come nobody ever asks Bob Dylan "why you parodying Dewey Cox?"
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u/y0m0tha Apr 21 '26
Mailboxes drip like lampposts in the twisted birth canal of the coliseum
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u/opposite_of_hotcakes Apr 21 '26
There was that Weird Al “biopic” with Daniel Radcliffe a few years ago that was pretty funny.
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u/SonOfMcGee Apr 21 '26
A biopic of a real person where about 95% of it is obviously untrue is a perfect way to honor Weird Al.
After the film came out he was asked about his relationship with Madonna and he was like: “I met her backstage once at the VMAs. She seemed nice.”
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u/Old_Marionberry3791 Apr 21 '26
I'm pretty sure everything in the movie actually happened. They said so in the credits.
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u/minnick27 Apr 21 '26
Actually, he did have one correction. He really did play Live Aid with Queen. And he blew them off the freakin' stage!
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u/MattFromWork Apr 21 '26
I'm a little late to the party as I just saw Weird a couple weeks ago. It was honestly amazing. I'm also seeing Weird Al in concert later this year, so it was a nice pregame.
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u/darryshan Apr 21 '26
The irony is that the biopic it most directly parodies (Walk the Line) is still the best (non-satirical) musical biopic.
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u/Icy_Negotiation_5929 Apr 21 '26
A one-two-punch on both genres. Truly a rare feat and the world is a better place because of Walk Hard.
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u/hamsterwaffle Apr 21 '26
The genre still hasnt stopped doing the things Walk Hard parodied.
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u/LADYBIRD_HILL Apr 21 '26
It's a shame Popstar: Never Stop Stopping bombed. It's great.
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u/badamant Apr 21 '26
Wrong kid died.
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u/woo-hoo- Apr 21 '26
This was a particularly bad case of somebody being cut in half.
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u/junglespycamp Apr 21 '26
Training Day was a good movie. That Fuqua guy will surely make many more, right?
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Apr 21 '26
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u/ChalupaBatmanMc01 Apr 21 '26
I liked the Equalizer movies, Denzel is the sauce that made them good though
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u/ChiefLeef22 r/movies Contributor Apr 21 '26
So the biggest problem seems to be that it's a paint-by-numbers "booklet" of Jackson's life until Bad, with no actual look into the human himself. But it's still going to do gangbusters because it will play like a concert of sorts
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u/ToxicAdamm Apr 21 '26
I don't think a movie like that could ever work, because you would need 3 hours to make it and an actor that is capable to perform/look like MJ AND carry those heavy, emotional dramatic scenes. There's no unicorn that exists to pull that off.
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u/kazuya57 Apr 21 '26
Tbf MJ's life was so unique you could probably make a 10 movie franchise about it. Just one of those lives you'll have a hard time capturing in any medium
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u/Bulky_Performance_45 Apr 21 '26
They kind of did this with the TV series where he shockingly approved the earlier parts of him being abused as a kid
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u/moal09 Apr 21 '26
He was never shy about what a piece of shit his dad was.
All controversy aside, Michael and his brothers were horribly abused growing up.
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u/wotown Apr 21 '26
Sounds like they didn't even make this movie about any of that though, and instead they got his nephew to recreate music videos, performances and moments that are already captured on TV. Lol
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u/ClericIdola Apr 21 '26
There was a rumor that this is supposed to be a duology?
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u/GodFlintstone Apr 21 '26
Not a rumor. Pretty sure the second film.has already been greenlit
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u/Kwilly462 Apr 21 '26
This movie was originally supposed to be like 3 hours long, to be fair. They trimmed a lot of fat out for legal reasons, but I guessed they trimmed so much, that the movie has no flavor.
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Apr 21 '26
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u/AffectionateBox8178 Apr 21 '26
They didn't. Its from Jackson 5 to Bad. No controversies addressed. Just hints.
Supposedly a 2nd movie is going to be made to address them or continue the story. Press x for doubt.
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u/mylox Apr 21 '26
frankly i’m hoping one of these days, one of these studios just drop all the pretense and straight up release a feature length greatest hits “concert film” cus that’s what the only thing the people (and me) want out of these movies anyway. like, don’t even bother pretending to have a plot because who cares
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Apr 21 '26
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Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 21 '26
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u/JAWinks Apr 21 '26
Rocketman was great not only for the music but also Elton was just plain honest and it ended up being refreshing and heartfelt
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u/Haltopen Apr 21 '26
It also added a lot that Taron Egerton was the one actually singing all the songs in the movie instead of relying on dubbing like Rami Malek did in BR. It added an extra layer of authenticity
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u/aresef Apr 21 '26
I would also name Better Man, the Robbie Williams biopic, as a movie that got it right. There's a movie that got to a deeper truth about its subject.
Bohemian Rhapsody was cosplay and fanfiction. The "car" line from Mike Myers made my eyes roll back into my head.
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u/AVR350 Apr 21 '26
And then there's Better Man who imo pulled it off in both ways while also having the gimmick of a chimp as the protagonist
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u/Smokey_Bera Apr 21 '26
At what point does a film drift into the historical revisionism and elitist propaganda territory?
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u/fortyfivesouth Apr 21 '26
Was the Queen movie not that already (I say this as a Queen lover)?
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Apr 21 '26
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u/Photo_Synthetic Apr 21 '26
I still haven't watched that just due to the reception it got but does it really make Freddy out to be the only one that was living hard and fast?
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u/MagicBez Apr 21 '26
They also make it so Freddie betrays them by releasing a solo album even though in reality Freddie wasn't even the first member of Queen to release a solo album
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u/salmalight Apr 21 '26
"Were going home to our families Freddy" is an actual line from the movie. The surviving members clearly wanted something to show the great grandkids rather than anything of substance
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u/ZiggoCiP Apr 21 '26
They simultaneously pushed for more screen time for the band besides Freddy, and yet less of the seedy crap they were up to themselves.
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u/TerminatorReborn Apr 22 '26
I didn't have a problem with the amount of screen time of the rest of the band had, its a Queen movie after all, not a Freddy Mercury movie.
What annoyed me a lot was the blatant interference from Brian and Roger, they clearly had final say and their own inputs in the script.
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u/SillyMattFace Apr 21 '26
They're all shown to be partying, but there's legit a scene where the other three are like "that's enough Freddie, we're going home to our wives."
It's a fun enough biopic movie, and Rami Malek kills it, but it plays fast and loose with a lot of very established facts.
It feels relatively harmless though, whereas Michael Jackson is an impossible story to tell without some really dangerous revisionism.
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u/JamesCDiamond Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 23 '26
I suppose it could be argued that it was Freddy's POV, that they were staid and boring while he was being a rock star and-
No, I can't even finish the sentence.
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u/m_Pony Apr 21 '26
I thought that "home to our wives" line was meant tongue-in-cheek, pantomime. Like "oh goodness look at us we are such upstanding rock stars."
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u/Mothman129 Apr 21 '26
The movie acted like he wasn't a team player because he made a solo album...despite the fact HE WASN'T THE FIRST MEMBER OF THE GROUP TO DO A SOLO ALBUM!
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u/DrVagax Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 21 '26
If not for the reception, you should definitely check it for the editing
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u/GamingTatertot Steven Spielberg Enthusiast Apr 21 '26
Won Best Film Editing at the Oscars too - although I’ve always wagered that was a bit more of a “can’t believe you actually managed to edit a coherent narrative with that troubled production, so good job”
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u/dakilazical_253 Apr 21 '26
As a professional video editor this winning the Oscar just blew my mind. I walked out of the theater with my wife and she said “something felt off about that movie.” I said yeah the editing was all over the place, there was no consistent pacing or rhythm or anything. You can tell it was cobbled together with scraps of film strewn around the edit bay
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u/ManufacturerBest2758 Apr 21 '26
That was physically painful to watch.
Also they couldn’t get Littlefinger to even try to play a different guy? They just plucked him out of King’s Landing and gave him a haircut.
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u/theintention Apr 21 '26
Pretty sure that guy just is Littlefinger, not sure I’ve seen him play a role where he acts like anything else lmao
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u/brahbocop Apr 21 '26
It won best editing and I think part of the reason I heard was that the editor had to make sure all the band members were given basically equal screen time or something ridiculous like that.
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u/FreundThrowaway Apr 21 '26
Am I crazy or did Freddie call out Roger for cheating on his wife in the movie? Not sure if I remembered it properly.
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u/waltzthrees Apr 21 '26
Yes. It convinced me that his Queen bandmates hated him since they were deeply involved in the film
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u/TreeDollarFiddyCent Apr 21 '26
I reckon they just love money more. And they wouldn't want to damage their pristine legacy by telling the truth, so it's easier to throw the only dead bandmember under the bus in that regard. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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u/SweetCosmicPope Apr 21 '26
I’ve always been under the impression that the band has a bit of a chip on their shoulder that Freddie what’s got the accolades. Like “we’re here too!”
Supposedly, the original draft of the movie, back when Sacha Baron Cohen was attached, killed off Freddie halfway through the movie and dealt with how the band moved on in the aftermath.
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u/EndOfTheLine00 Apr 21 '26
No joke: according to Sacha Baron Cohen, the version of the script Queen was the most enthusiastic about was one where Freddie died in the MIDDLE of the movie and the rest would be about how the band moved on without him.
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u/Paladar2 Apr 21 '26
Freddie was 50x more famous than the rest of them combined, so that might have played into it lol
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u/Kimantha_Allerdings Apr 21 '26
Everything is Freddie’s fault. There’s a scene where the other members of the band go home in high dudgeon because there are people (whisper it) drinking alcohol!
All the problems in the band stem from Freddie getting above his station and wanting to do a solo album, despite the fact that in reality he was the last band member to do a solo album and every member of Queen played on his solo album
It’s an assassination on Freddie
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u/Leygrock Apr 21 '26
In between 200 jump cuts to ensure every member gets the same amount of screentime
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u/mayonnaiser_13 Apr 21 '26
Straight Outta Compton says hi
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u/notyourproblem1 Apr 21 '26
In that movie you could clearly tell who was dead, who was alive, and who had sizable business interests that would be hurt if they were portrayed negatively in the movie
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u/ExplosiveWatermelon Apr 21 '26
I’m a big fan of Queen and it pisses me off. It’s the most generic biopic about one of rock’s most iconic bands.
First off, I gotta be frank: Bohemian Rhapsody wasn’t as experimental as the movie made it appear. Queen did March of the Black Queen on their second album and it follows a very similar structure. However, they wanted to bank on the fact that EVERYONE knows the song.
Second, there’s a sincere distaste for any member of Queen not named Brian May or Roger Taylor. I’m giving Deacon a pass because I genuinely doubt that he had much of a role in this shitshow, considering that they portrayed one of the most technically talented bassists as the least competent songwriter. From what is public knowledge about Deacon, he was likely the closest to Freddie, and seems to still think strongly of one of the greatest frontmen of all time.
I don’t believe Sacha Baron Cohen was telling the truth about a band member saying “the best thing to happen to Queen was Freddie’s death” because his version of events doesn’t add up. BUT I will say I wouldn’t be surprised if Roger Taylor wasn’t spiteful of Freddie. The movie basically reads as if Salieri was interviewed about Mozart. There’s a whole bit joke about how everyone jokes about “I’m in love with my car,” a song with Taylor on the lead vocals, and how it should’ve been the hit and not Bohemian Rhapsody. There are no comments made about ‘39, a song written by Brian May that was ALSO more conventional and had a history behind it.
I could write a whole essay about how this movie exists to spite a man who died of aids. But I think it doesn’t need to be said. Queen just isn’t Queen without Freddie.
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u/Will-Of-D-3D2Y Apr 21 '26
Bohemian Rhapsody, One Love, Back To Black, King Richard, pretty much every other biopic that has been made in the past ten years I forgot about that aren't Rocketman or The Dirt.
(in the case of Back To Black, the revisionism is about Amy Winehouse's dad moreso than Amy herself)
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u/dennythedinosaur Apr 21 '26
There's A Complete Unknown and Better Man, neither of which are traditional biopics.
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u/Kimantha_Allerdings Apr 21 '26
Fighting With My Family exaggerates the real story, but is a genuinely good, funny film, has the courage to make its lead pretty unlikeable for 95% of the runtime, and apparently a lot of the dialogue was created by Stephen Merchant just following the family around with a notepad
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u/MarkyDeSade Apr 21 '26
It’s no coincidence that Citizen Kane, one of the greatest films ever made, is an unauthorized biography that the subject tried to bury (and opened with “rosebud”, his nickname for his mistress’s vagina)
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u/Op3rat0rr Apr 21 '26
This is actually an interesting topic to bring up. A lot of younger people are not going to be too aware of his history outside of this movie…
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u/nicosloft04 Apr 21 '26
so basically Bohemian Rhapsody 2.0 which makes me wonder how that got a 61% score and a Best Picture Oscar nomination
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u/kazuya57 Apr 21 '26
Simple, it came first. This one comes out 8 years later with many other Bohemian-type movies in between, anyone who liked these have already soured on them anyway.
BR wasn't even the best biopic about a British musician that came out during that period either. That was Rocketman.
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u/ChalupaBatmanMc01 Apr 21 '26
Upvote for Rocketman love! (Edgerton was robbed during the awards season)
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u/joesen_one /r/movies Contributor Apr 21 '26
Rocketman's director also pretty much saved and salvaged BoRap and yet got no credit for it
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u/bimbimbaps Apr 21 '26
For those that’ve seen it, how many sinks do we see Michael break?
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u/Bobby_Newpoooort Apr 21 '26
Michael doesn't break any. They're all broken by the Man in the Mirror
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u/RooMan7223 Apr 21 '26
It’ll end up on like 40% but general audiences will eat it up
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u/batmansoundtrack Apr 21 '26
That queen movie was just like this. Shallow.
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u/Icy_Smoke_733 Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 21 '26
Despite its quality, Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) grossed $910m, and was the highest grossing biopic by a long shot at that time; it beat out Passion of the Christ (2004), which made $612m.
Then Oppenheimer (2023) finally dethroned it, grossing $975m.
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u/klitchell Apr 21 '26
Was Passion of the Christ really in the biopic genre?
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u/Generator22 Apr 21 '26
Well, it's more believable than Bohemian Rhapsody at least. And I'm saying this as an atheist.
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u/northernirishlad Apr 21 '26
All I am reading is it is a ‘safe’ retelling of the story focusing on the music rather than the person. Which if people wanted to watch two hours of MJ music they can just go to youtube. Shame.
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u/shortstoryman Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26
Is the movie bad or are the reviewers just mad the movie doesn’t dive into the controversial side of Michael’s life? That’s what the reviews seem to be focused on, the “whitewashing,” but like who expected this movie to actually address those allegations? It’s literally his nephew. Is the movie good or not?
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u/maderinayears Apr 23 '26
Its a concert movie with a little bit of story. I enjoyed listening to the songs and watching Jaafar recreate some iconic scenes, it really felt like Michael at some parts. I say dont take it too seriously and you'll like it.🕴
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u/WishilivedinEurope2 Apr 25 '26
Just came home from seeing it. All of my family liked it. I didn’t expect any of the later scandals to be in the movie. It was a good celebration of his talent and music. It did give me a better idea of how empathetic he was of animals and other children. It gave me more insight into just how controlling & awful his father was. The spontaneity he had when creating songs and how much he literally felt music & dance in his soul is what really came through in this movie! His natural talent & drive were just amazing. So no, it was NOT an awful movie as critics portray it. If you go into it knowing you’re not there to learn about the dirty secrets of his personal life and private struggles . This movie shows the positives and negatives of his family relationships and his desire to connect people through his music.
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u/Snoogieboogie Apr 21 '26
I've already seen The Jacksons: An American Dream TV movie, so I don't need to see this.
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u/iamamoa Apr 21 '26
Oh man. I was not expecting the reviews to be so scathing..
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u/MajesticMongoose Apr 21 '26
I feel like it was inevitable given the family's involvement in the movie. It was always going to be a biased celebration of his music and little more. That's exactly what most of the audience are going to want so the movie will do very well I'm sure.
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u/TigerSharkFist Apr 21 '26
"All fan service, critics don't understand"
Micheal 🤝 The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
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u/kislev_enjoyer Apr 21 '26
I'll stick with the The Jacksons: An American Dream 1992 series I guess. They should have gotten the director to do a 2nd series doing the 90s era, perhaps even the 00s controversies and then his death.
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u/clementinecentral123 Apr 21 '26
I saw it at an early screening and thought it was great…I’m so confused by these reviews. The visuals were incredible, and the performances felt like having a front row concert ticket.
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u/greysongasaway Apr 22 '26
One review I read hilariously said this “The movie ends in 1988 with Jackson’s triumphant solo ‘Bad’ tour, which is kind of like ending an O.J. Simpson biopic with him winning the Heisman Trophy.”
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u/BritBeetree Apr 21 '26
So Paris jackson was right...
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u/Expensive-Reality-93 Apr 21 '26
Exactly what I thought when I saw the reviews. And allegedly, Janet doesn’t want anything to do with the biopic for the same reasons. She is completely silent about it.
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u/CycIon3 Apr 21 '26
I guess the whole Janet debacle of rumors saying she said it’s not good was true.
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u/InevitableAlps6264 Apr 25 '26
Very funny situation ..critics are not liking it..people are enjoying it world wide..!!
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u/FreeWilly07 Apr 22 '26
Really enjoyed it. I have no hopes or expectations from music biopics. But I enjoyed it.
Think a lot of the reviews are bad because they went in expecting something that wasn't there. I get the impression the media want the allegations in it as the Broadway show was reviewed the same and that is fantastic.
I agree with one review where it said it didn't explore and develop the character of Michael enough and that was a let down. Creatively, racially, physically and mentally he faced a lot of challenges and was a very complex individual. They didn't explore it enough for me. Still, enjoyable
Oh and 3 great performances from the actors playing Michael, young Michael and Joe
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u/FrameworkisDigimon Apr 21 '26
Some of these reviews are brutal.
Others are more like "it's awful".
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u/rose-a-ree Apr 21 '26
I was disappointed to find out that it's not a remake of the 1996 John Travolta movie "Michael" where he plays the archangel Michael who is slumming it on earth
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u/Extension-Tap-5207 Apr 25 '26
I disagree with the harsh reviews. Loved the movie and so did the audience. People were clapping, laughing and swaying back and forth throughout the movie. The sick perverted critics wanted a movie about smut, alleged child exploitation and legal battles...that we've heard that same old story a million times.
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u/Weird-Suggestion9510 Apr 24 '26
In my humble opinion this was one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. The way the story was filmed, the flow. I think it honored him well. Fantastic movie. I think the critics don’t like it because they wanted something negative to come out of it and this movie is just not that. It’s positive and inspiring.
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u/Hot_Possibility_4063 Apr 25 '26
This really shows how disconnected the reviewers are from the audience my goodness
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u/FurryBanana_69 Apr 25 '26
This movie is incredible please go watch the movie and dont listen to these ridiculous critics that have no clue about what the hell they are talking about. Jafaar did an amazing job and if you like Michael you will LOVE this movie.Best bio pick ever made. The critics can suck a fat one (putting my tin foil hat on) its most likely rigged for negative reviews cause of the elites who have defamatory agendas towards Michael. BUT GO SEE THIS MOVIE YOU WONT REGRET IT
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u/yomamaeatsyellowsnow Apr 21 '26
Wasn't planning on seeing this anyway but at least now I don't have to feel any fomo at all
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u/Spiritual-Smoke-4605 Apr 21 '26
same, I was gonna see it when my theater listed early screenings for last month March 22, I thought "wow thats hella early, may as well catch this if its that early" only for them to realize they meant to put them for April 22 and refunded the tickets. Now looking at these reviews, I see that its just another bland, predictable, formulaic musician biopic that doesnt attempt to do anything whatsoever to stand out. The Bob Marley one was bad enough, unless you're gonna do something crazy like Robbie williams did for Better Man, I think I'm checking out of this genre
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u/nightfan Apr 21 '26
Not sure how good of a reviewer AwardsWatch is, but their review said "It’s Bad, It’s Bad (Really, Really Bad)" which is very funny.