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I LOVED this film. I just watched it on DVD today and it certainly wasn't as amazing as I expected but it was good. The film opens very nicely by Michael Jackson performing "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'". It is very dramatic when it starts and I was so exited! However 20 minutes of the film is wasted on interviews and choreographing with the back up dancers which is a shame because the film is only 2 hours. However a really good thing with the film I noticed was that most of the rehearsals were fully live as a matter of fact the only songs lip synched were "They Don’t Care About US", "Thriller" and "Beat It". Which is very good indeed. However I was very upset that the only new song Michael Jackson performed was an acapella of "Speechless". Although no new songs are performed Michael Jackson can still dance great (like he did 25 years ago!) and he also has some new dance moves i.e. "Penguin dance". However I was very upset where most of the performances have film interludes such as when Michael Jackson performs "Smooth Criminal" 5 minutes is used from a 1946 film and one of the character is Michael Jackson and the whole song is based on the film and the actual rehearsal as well as this the thing that upset me the most about the performance was Michael Jackson did not perform his signature anti-gravity lean on "Smooth Criminal" when i was so looking forward to that. The dancing in "Smooth Criminal" was great though he could still dance precisely and he looked great. Another rehearsal that used an film interlude was "Thriller" were there were several zombies and ghosts in a graveyard and after a few minutes a robotic spider emerges on stage and Michael Jackson comes out of the spider and dances for only 2 MINUTES!! What the hell? I was hoping his dance routine would last longer. Furthermore him wearing a black bomber jacket not a red leather Thriller jacket so the dance moves don’t look good when they are but I can tell he can dance as good as he could 20 years ago and it was very exilhirating, another thing which was nice about "Thriller" was that at the end of the rehearsel MJ danced a bit to "Threatened" with new dance moves which was very cool. The last video interlude was "Earth Song", this was the only performance which seemed like a video interlude would be useful and it was and the performance was great! Unlike many people said none of the rehearsals were dress rehearsals in my eyes apart from Smooth Criminal! Regardless of these cons I enjoyed the film and I couldn't wait for the performance of "Billie Jean". When Michael Jackson performed Billie Jean it was great at the beginning with very good dance moves and I was thrilled but when it came to the part where he was supposed to Moonwalk he never did and I was extremely and deeply saddened because I was looking forward for the moonwalk but he never did the Moonwalk another signature dance move he missed but I think he was supposed to do it in another rehearsal so I felt alright afterwards (I still knew he could moonwalk, he moon walked like 2 steps for Smooth Criminal and did a side walk for some other rehearsels) I still had mixed feelings about it though.
In contrast to this there were also a lot of pros such. Firstly, Michael Jackson could still sing as good as he could 30 years ago. Secondly, there were a wide variety of songs such "I Want You Back" from the Jackson 5 to "Earth Song" by Michael Jackson. Thirdly, Michael Jackson could still dance GREAT, and all those rumors I heard from people that he was too old to dance was just pitiful and he looked like he was very healthy to do at least 10 shows and for the first time I saw him enthusiastic after 2005, furthermore his dance moves were so sharp in rehearsals like "They Dont Care About US" and "Jam" the military style dancing was so sharp he could dance better than the 20 year old backup dancers! (Well that's obvious) He also looks better looking! And his voice was so amazing I couldn't believe he still had that magical voice and at times it brought tears to my eyes because it was so beautiful.
Overall this is a great film however don’t expect any moonlwalking or signature dance moves. Also most of the singing is fully live unlike the HIStory tour. However Michael Jackson only performs a few songs and the rehearsals are very short as well as this some film interludes get annoying but you will see how energetic Michael Jackson was and how he will forever remain the KING and his dancing will blow your head off. Overall, Michael's heart pumped love, acceptance, and making the world a better place and I hope that everyone will begin to in hopes of making a difference in this world, like Michael.
**** (4/5)
I LOVED this film. I just watched it on DVD today and it certainly wasn't as amazing as I expected but it was good. The film opens very nicely by Michael Jackson performing "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'". It is very dramatic when it starts and I was so exited! However 20 minutes of the film is wasted on interviews and choreographing with the back up dancers which is a shame because the film is only 2 hours. However a really good thing with the film I noticed was that most of the rehearsals were fully live as a matter of fact the only songs lip synched were "They Don’t Care About US", "Thriller" and "Beat It". Which is very good indeed. However I was very upset that the only new song Michael Jackson performed was an acapella of "Speechless". Although no new songs are performed Michael Jackson can still dance great (like he did 25 years ago!) and he also has some new dance moves i.e. "Penguin dance". However I was very upset where most of the performances have film interludes such as when Michael Jackson performs "Smooth Criminal" 5 minutes is used from a 1946 film and one of the character is Michael Jackson and the whole song is based on the film and the actual rehearsal as well as this the thing that upset me the most about the performance was Michael Jackson did not perform his signature anti-gravity lean on "Smooth Criminal" when i was so looking forward to that. The dancing in "Smooth Criminal" was great though he could still dance precisely and he looked great. Another rehearsal that used an film interlude was "Thriller" were there were several zombies and ghosts in a graveyard and after a few minutes a robotic spider emerges on stage and Michael Jackson comes out of the spider and dances for only 2 MINUTES!! What the hell? I was hoping his dance routine would last longer. Furthermore him wearing a black bomber jacket not a red leather Thriller jacket so the dance moves don’t look good when they are but I can tell he can dance as good as he could 20 years ago and it was very exilhirating, another thing which was nice about "Thriller" was that at the end of the rehearsel MJ danced a bit to "Threatened" with new dance moves which was very cool. The last video interlude was "Earth Song", this was the only performance which seemed like a video interlude would be useful and it was and the performance was great! Unlike many people said none of the rehearsals were dress rehearsals in my eyes apart from Smooth Criminal! Regardless of these cons I enjoyed the film and I couldn't wait for the performance of "Billie Jean". When Michael Jackson performed Billie Jean it was great at the beginning with very good dance moves and I was thrilled but when it came to the part where he was supposed to Moonwalk he never did and I was extremely and deeply saddened because I was looking forward for the moonwalk but he never did the Moonwalk another signature dance move he missed but I think he was supposed to do it in another rehearsal so I felt alright afterwards (I still knew he could moonwalk, he moon walked like 2 steps for Smooth Criminal and did a side walk for some other rehearsels) I still had mixed feelings about it though.
In contrast to this there were also a lot of pros such. Firstly, Michael Jackson could still sing as good as he could 30 years ago. Secondly, there were a wide variety of songs such "I Want You Back" from the Jackson 5 to "Earth Song" by Michael Jackson. Thirdly, Michael Jackson could still dance GREAT, and all those rumors I heard from people that he was too old to dance was just pitiful and he looked like he was very healthy to do at least 10 shows and for the first time I saw him enthusiastic after 2005, furthermore his dance moves were so sharp in rehearsals like "They Dont Care About US" and "Jam" the military style dancing was so sharp he could dance better than the 20 year old backup dancers! (Well that's obvious) He also looks better looking! And his voice was so amazing I couldn't believe he still had that magical voice and at times it brought tears to my eyes because it was so beautiful.
Overall this is a great film however don’t expect any moonlwalking or signature dance moves. Also most of the singing is fully live unlike the HIStory tour. However Michael Jackson only performs a few songs and the rehearsals are very short as well as this some film interludes get annoying but you will see how energetic Michael Jackson was and how he will forever remain the KING and his dancing will blow your head off. Overall, Michael's heart pumped love, acceptance, and making the world a better place and I hope that everyone will begin to in hopes of making a difference in this world, like Michael.
**** (4/5)