New Delhi: The biopic of pop star Michael Jackson, which premiered in Los Angeles on Monday night, received mostly negative reviews, with critics labelling the film, Michael, a ‘bland’ and ‘problematic’ portrayal that avoids key controversies. Directed by Antoine Fuqua, the film starring Jackson’s nephew Jaafar Jackson had its world premiere in Berlin on 20 April.
Despite praise for Jaafar’s debut performance, the film opened to a disappointing 27 per cent Rotten Tomatoes rating, which went up to 35 per cent on Wednesday based on 101 reviews.
Though there was too much buzz around the project, as it was the first authorised biopic in which a family member is seen in Jackson’s shoes, the film failed to create an impact and grab eyeballs.
Critics have been far from kind towards Michael. While expectations for a hard-hitting portrayal were already tempered due to the involvement of Jackson’s inner circle, critics still found the final result surprisingly underwhelming. The BBC dismissed it as a “really, really bad film”. The review reads, “It’s a bland and barely competent daytime TV movie.”
Meanwhile, Tribune News Service acknowledged that “the music is great” and Jaafar shows clear star potential, but added that the film remains “uncomfortably problematic” in ways difficult to ignore. At The Times, critic Kevin Maher gave Michael just one out of five stars and described it as “an aimless Wiki-plod through Jackson’s back catalogue.” He also pointed out that the absence of Janet Jackson affected the story.
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‘Frustratingly shallow, inert picture’
The Guardian criticised the film for its lack of depth, calling it ‘a frustratingly shallow’ movie which failed to capture the most essential part of Michael’s life. Its review reads, “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.”
Michael traces the pop star’s journey, who died in 2009 at 50, from his early days at Motown with his brothers to his meteoric rise as a solo superstar. Backed by Lionsgate, the project has secured rights to Jackson’s music. The biopic is produced by Graham King, best known for the four-time Oscar-winning Bohemian Rhapsody, which focussed on the life of Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of the British rock band Queen. The movie was a massive box office success, grossing more than $910 million globally.
Reflecting on his journey, Jaafar described the role as something he had to earn.
“It was a process that I really had to earn, and it really proved to the filmmakers and myself and my family that I can get to that point where I can pull it off,” Jafaar said in an interview.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)