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So today I went out to see This Is It, a tribute to Michael Jackson. Let me start out by saying I thought it was totally awesome, but then again, I've been a fan of Michael Jackson since I was 5 or so.. Now that you've read this, you're probably thinking "biased review coming up"... Well, maybe you're right, even though this post isn't so much of a review but rather just me sharing some thoughts. I'll try not to spoil any/much of your viewing pleasure if you haven't seen the movie yet.
Most reviews I read online were either from MJ fans praising it to heaven or from people that never had anything with the guy and treat it like one of the worst drama movies they've ever seen. I didn't really know what to expect of the movie/documentary, so I just sat down in my chair and let it come to me. The cinema was 65-75% filled, nothing crazy at all, but then again I went on a thursday evening.
The first thing that came to me was that MJ seemed in great shape. He has always been portrayed really badly in the media. His face being a total disaster, his body about to fall apart, etc. However, his voice was great as always, still able to reproduce the same vocals as you hear on his cd's, his dance moves were still smooth as butter and his appearance wasn't bad at all! While of course the movie focused on the good moments rather than the bad, I was very much impressed by the 50 year old s-class entertainer. I guess I shouldn't really call it a movie, but it wasn't a documentary either. A tribute might be the right word for it, but whatever it was, I was feeling it throughout the full length of it. This is/was definitely it, the happiness this guy is able to spread around the people around him, his music, his performace; he got me moving around and singing in my chair.
While the movie is about his concert only and nothing about his private life is involved, it does show the way he interacts with the other musicians/dancers/etc., which makes the movie way more interesting than a movie about his final concert would've been. It really shows his s-class and his ultra nice personality. Being a fan it's a given that I think great of his musical skills, but it really stands out in this movie.
All of the musicians and dancers knows exactly what they're doing, but MJ seems to have a very unique sense of the way the audience perceives their performance making him able to give these top musicians great tips to tune their performance up just a little higher.
Seeing him interact with his crew instantly made me think of the totally opposite way Christian Bale seems to work with his lol. Everyone seemed really happy and enjoying the fact that they got to work with MJ, making it more of a unique experience than actual 'work' for them.
If MJ was actually able to give these performances to a live audience, I'm pretty sure everyone would be amazed. It definitely would've topped all of his other concerts! In a certain sense there's nothing new; everyone knows the songs, everyone has seen the dances, but This Is It perfectionalizes all of it. Thriller 3D and Earthsong made some awesome highlights to it.
I should mention again that the movie didn't show any of MJ's weaker moments, no breakdowns, no bad shit or whatsoever (making it not classify as a documentary I guess).. but it rocked. It's a good compilation of footage that shows what the entertainment industry has to miss out on. I think this tribute is a good way to show the world who they have been hating on for 15 years long. + Show Spoiler +; One of the most gentle and kindest people in the world who really does seem like a child at heart. It shows really well in a certain part where MJ gets lifted off the ground and expresses the way he likes it and wants to try to go to its highest point. I think it was a very charming point in the movie, showing him the way he was. It also shows again that he never really was able to act his age, which got him in so much trouble. He really doesn't seem like a person who'd break any rules at all. Anyway, I wanted to focus on his movie, and not start any discussion around any of the controversy : p
So who should go see this?
If you like MJ you'll love it.
If you like music and performances in general, you'll love it.
I loved seeing him perform once again, as did my gf who is classified as 'there's a few songs i like'.
If you don't really enjoy MJ or any of his music, stay away, you should probably go check it out anyways to see the other side which the media has never shown, and to see a genius performer at work.
This was a 5/5 tribute.
PS. If you're still planning on going: there's some small footage at the end of the (very long list of) credits.
Edit: I made some corrections and edited my post here and there. I didn't have time to finalize this post the night I wrote this and also never had time to reread it.
 
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I have already planned on going this Saturday with a bunch of my friends!!! I'm so excited! For about 2 years before his death I got really into his music and his life story (I watched a bunch of documentaries and stuff o.o) and tried to learn more about what he really was like. From what I can tell, the Tabloid Junkie song of his is pretty true... Yes he has his peculiarities, but he grew up in much different circumstances than many people do. Even considering his oddities, I would hope people recognize what a great, talented and innovative person he was.
Can't wait to watch it! Thanks for the review 
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is there a section of the film showing how to do his spins? I got his moonwalk down but the spin is too hard T_T
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United States4796 Posts
On November 06 2009 13:46 evanthebouncy! wrote:
is there a section of the film showing how to do his spins? I got his moonwalk down but the spin is too hard T_T
Video of you doing moonwalk please?
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Watched it opening night and loved it (i've always been a MJ fan so that might be why). Watching this actually made me think that there is no way he could be dead T_T, he seemed so energetic and alive during the rehearsals.
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On November 06 2009 13:20 Smorrie wrote:
So who should go see this? If you like MJ you'll love it. If you like music and performances in general, you'll love it. I loved seeing him perform once again, as did my gf who is classified as 'there's a few songs i like'. If you don't really enjoy any of MJ's music, stay away.
If you're still planning on going: there's some small footage at the end of the (very long list of) credits.
i never was a fan of his music. but from what little i've seen of his shows in clips or music videos or w/e, i had a lot of respect for his dance style/entertainment value
i was very pleasantly surprised by the movie.
seeing how everyone around him was so happy, and how much of a different person this docu showed him to be. i had never seen that side of him becasue most of what i remember about him was mostly negative. due to news and whatnot of recent years.
anyway.. i'm probably in the same category as your GF, or one of the one's who should stay away 
but no, i really liked it. went into it with an open mind and it turned out to be great. i have a new found respect for him for how much apart of his music he was
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black MJ was the greatest.
MJ + Quincy = platinum
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I personally believe white MJ was still just fine though
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Saw it yesterday. Awesome movie. Listening to his music right now.
ALL I WANNA SAY IS THAT, THEY DON'T REALLY CARE ABOUT US
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mj is dead...let him be dead for the sake of the living.
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Alright, I never liked MJ that much except for some old songs. So I guess I'll stay away
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This movie was good as a documentary. Would have been great if you're a MJ fan... But I don't like mj.. sorry :/
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I was sure this thread was going to be about Michael Jordan.
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second on the moonwalk video. all claims must be challenged.
please?
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I went to see the movie a few days ago and I enjoyed it a lot. Going into it I wasn't sure what it would be like, whether it was going to be all behind the scenes footage or other things, but I enjoyed how it was setup. I have always been an MJ fan so naturally I liked it a lot, but I think anyone could watch this and take something from it (unless you can't stand his music at all). The movie showed a side of him that most haven't seen before, I was amazed by how much he loved what he was doing and by how good he was (in terms of knowing what the audience wanted, and being able to perceive things as they would).
In summary I think it would be a great thing to see for most people, if you know a lot about MJ and love his music then you will really enjoy all the songs and footage of him, if you don't know much about him and like some songs then you will learn a lot about him and get to see what it is that made him special.
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I made some corrections and edited my post here and there. Didn't have time to finalize it yesterday night.
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ahhhh... shi-mone... ya... ssssAhh...
+ Show Spoiler +Seriously though the guy was a genius. What kind of intelligence is that... Kenetic? Also... musical of course. Had some very funny manerisms though. And for the record I also happen to think not guilty.
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Here's the thing. For those born in the Brittney Spears/ NSYNC/ Crappy pop era, we never had the chance to experiance the greatness that is MJ.
Many 16/17/18 ish teens/tweens will be hesitant to see this movie
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On November 07 2009 04:57 DreaM)XeRO wrote:
Here's the thing. For those born in the Brittney Spears/ NSYNC/ Crappy pop era, we never had the chance to experiance the greatness that is MJ.
Many 16/17/18 ish teens/tweens will be hesitant to see this movie
I grew up with New Kids on the Block and Michael Jackson. But I don't like MJ that much just because he was big in the late eighties.
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Well, I guess it's never too late to discover him :p Seeing this movie will actually give you an understanding of what makes MJ so great and gives you some material to compare to the current pop singers. If you're interested but not interested enough to go to the cinema, + Show Spoiler +just d/l it off the net. (You might have to wait a bit for some good versions, never looked around if there are any good ones). Also, I did not post this.
@evan: you should probably watch some youtube vids on that one, AFTER posting some vids of yourself :D
Something that made me smile during the movie was looking at MJ dancing in between his dance crew. They all are phenomenal dancers, one by one, and I'm pretty sure they can do a lot more than just MJ's cheography, but nobody's actually able to make all his moves look so smooth, easy and take so little effort as the master himself. Loved that
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I really recommend this movie too. I wasn't going to see it because I thought it would be exploitative, but several people told me it was good. Great seeing him perform all his hits, and the candid moments were really cool. Such a shame he never got to perform the concert. That's my biased review as a fellow MJ fan.
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On November 07 2009 00:10 citi.zen wrote:
I was sure this thread was going to be about Michael Jordan.
I did too.
This does look like something I would enjoy though. I was never a huge fan of MJ, but I do like alot of his songs enough so to validate seeing this.
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I just came back from the movie. Great tribute but I was a little bored by the end. I guess I was expecting some sort of documentary regarding his life and achievements instead of just a smash up of his last footage or something.
It's hard to explain, I do feel that this movie was some sort of last sunset for MJ. It was little sad but also brings out some of MJ's personality and his idea of worldly love.
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Just saw it and loved it. Really sad but I was soooo impressed by the work. Wish it actually had happened 
I'm happy that such a video was able to be made from the footage. We get a little bit of a look at what would have happened and got to see behind the scenes making of the performance. The performances were really top-notch.
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Man, that concert was gonna be some epic shit too. So sad it never made it to a live. This movie seemed like the opening part to a bunch of footage from different concerts that would come out on Blu-ray O_O so sick
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EPT
