Michael Jackson's This Is It Is a Sweet But Incomplete Gift

For the past year or so, I have served as a guide on ChaCha, a mobile answering service that allows people to text in with questions and receive personalized responses in a timely fashion. Several months ago, I began receiving a lot of questions about Michael Jackson’s upcoming “This Is It” tour in London. Wow, I thought. Now that would be something to see.. Something, of course, that I was not in any position to see myself, but I was happy for the thousands who would be making the trip for one of the sold-out dates. When I learned of his death, I was shocked. Surely if he’d been weeks away from a massive tour, he was in good health? I didn’t believe it at first, but National Public Radio provided all the confirmation I needed. What a tragedy. And what a disappointment.

I had hoped that some sort of DVD release, if not a full-blown theatrical release, was planned to follow this tour. Certainly it would have been a shame for all the fans of modest means to miss such a spectacle. Michael Jackson’s This Is It is not the experience that would have been. As the film points out in its scrolling introduction, dress rehearsals were eight days away on June 25. What we get is a tantalizing peek at what might have been, and no doubt an attempt on the part of those behind the concert to recover from the staggering monetary loss; from a purely economic standpoint, it’s hard to see how Michael’s death could have come at a worse time. Was this a movie cobbled together purely for profit, a documentary of which Michael himself would not have approved? To some extent, perhaps. But it always feels respectful, never exploitative, and the emphasis is most definitely on the music.

It would have been easy to include footage throughout the video of throngs of fans mourning for Michael, but the movie itself never makes explicit reference to his death at all, not even in the introduction that mentions June 25. In light of his death, the testimonials by the dancers auditioning for spots on his team read like eulogies; to a lesser extent, so do later reflections by other members of his crew, from instrumentalists to techies. But all of this was filmed as Michael was very much alive, and we were never meant to see it.

Most of what we get is rehearsal for specific songs. Although, for the most part, the costumes are not in place, so it’s just Michael and his back-up dancers in t-shirts, we get to see some fantastic dance moves that look all the more spectacular en masse, as in a segment when, thanks to the magic of computer graphics, we witness an army of dancers generated from about a dozen. These cinematic moments, with footage taped to complement the performances during the concerts themselves, are the most visually arresting portions of the movie. I was particularly dazzled by the lavish presentation of Smooth Criminal, which intercuts Michael’s live performance with clips of him inserted into the black-and-white movie Gilda, and the ghoulish Thriller.

One thing that comes across loud and clear in this documentary is that Michael was a perfectionist. He knew exactly what he wanted and never hesitated to speak up when every aspect of his performance wasn’t just as he thought it should be. I’d hesitate to call him a diva; all of the corrections we see him issue are exceedingly gentle, and he scolds himself at times too. He repeatedly says that he wants everything to be as perfect as it can be “for love,” as a gift to the fans. And the next time I watch it, I want to keep a running tally of how many times he utters the words “God bless you.” He comes across as incredibly soft-spoken and kind. Nonetheless, it seems that he sometimes had difficulty articulating exactly how to achieve the vision he saw in his mind, and at times there is a definite weariness in the voice of director Kenny Ortega as he tries to break through the communication gap.

I was a little disappointed that my favorite Michael Jackson song, Will You Be There?, doesn’t make an appearance in the concert, though brief footage of a leaping orca feels like an homage to that Free Willy theme. We see that scene during the portion of the movie that moved me most. Though I loved Michael’s hits that were driven by humanitarian interests, particularly We Are the World and Heal the World, which plays during the credits, I’d never really thought of him as an environmentalist. I only encountered Earth Song when, in the immediate aftermath of his death, I took a What Michael Jackson Song Are You? quiz on Facebook. It impressed me then when I looked up the video on YouTube, and more when I saw his performance on the big screen.

I was haunted by the video portions, featuring angelic-looking young Jasmine Alveran wandering placidly through a gorgeous jungle landscape before falling asleep, only to awaken in shock at her devastated surroundings. Meanwhile, Michael seems to have sung with more passion here than at any other point in the concert. He also speaks at length during this portion about his concern for the environment, and later, during a pre-rehearsal circle with his crew, he again asserts his commitment to reversing humanity’s negative effects on the planet. It made me wish that he’d collaborated with John Denver at least once. What a team they would have made!

Seeing all of the hard work, talent and passion that went into this concert, my heart goes out to the many members of his team who were living their dream, only to have it snatched away before it could be fully realized. While Michael occasionally expresses concerns about preserving his voice, there’s little to indicate any sense of frailty in this film. He seems vigorous, full of energy - and childlike enthusiasm, as amusingly illustrated when he has to be reminded to cling to the safety rail as he’s raised up in a cherry picker.

For Michael Jackson fans, this is a sweet, albeit sadly incomplete, gift. Go and revel in the complex choreography and the unique glimpse of what was involved in putting together what would have been an exceptional show. Stay for the credits, both to recognize that it takes a village to create a concert of this magnitude and to see the brief clips that serve as a tender coda. And, of course, it’s during the credits that we get to hear the title song. While it’s probably impossible to watch this documentary without reflecting on the sad circumstances that led to its release, Michael Jackson’s This Is It is also sure to bring a smile and may just inspire the next groundbreaking young performer.