This Is It

Starring Michael Jackson. Directed by Kenny Ortega. PG.

copyright Sony Pictures

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If anything, This Is It, a tribute to, and celebration of, Michael Jackson and his music suggests what a lollapalooza his farewell concert series would have been.

It was to be a return to the stage for the 50-year-old King of Pop (or least Wizard of Pop) after a decade away – and judging by this nearly two-hour look at rehearsals for that final curtain call, the concerts would have been a spectacular, dazzling triumph of talent and production skill.

But less than three weeks before the first of 50 sold-out London concerts was to start, Jackson was found dead. This Is It – which was to be the concert series title as well – is not a portrait of Jackson and his life but, with its emphasis on many of his best pop hits, a chronicle of his music.

It begins in adulation, causing an uneasy feeling that this film has been put together and released by the Jackson family to worship Jackson. Dancers to audition for the concerts gush and cry in awe of Jackson and how he inspires them.

While that reverential attitude surfaces every time someone opens their mouth about MJ, the film primarily focuses on the rehearsals earlier this year, showing Jackson as a creative perfectionist. He is involved in every minute detail of the production, from visual effects and pyrotechnics to design, costumes, lighting and stagecraft – but most of all, not surprisingly, in the concert's superb and intricate choreography and the delivery of his music.

Most of his major hits are here to one extent or another, including Jam, They Don't Care About Us, Human Nature, Smooth Criminal, The Way You Make Me Feel, Thriller, Beat It, Black or White and Billie Jean (no Dirty Diana or Bad).

Thriller comes with a new zombies-from-the-graveyard film clip; Smooth Criminal integrates Jackson into 1940s film noirs featuring Rita Hayworth, Humphrey Bogart and Edward G Robinson; and Jackson's eco save-the-world number Earth Song has a visual accompaniment of a child in nature's wonderland giving way to a giant bulldozer.

Even though Jackson at times understandably wants to conserve his energy and voice, and despite the rehearsal aspect of a film that had to be stitched together in a rush from more than 100 hours of recordings supposedly only meant for Jackson's personal library, the film – directed by Jackson's concert director and choreographer Kenny Ortega – is entertaining and often fascinating.

If Jackson hadn't died and the concerts had gone ahead, there undoubtedly would have been a concert doco released in their wake, which probably would have included some of this film's content. This Is It has a limited season, with only one more week of screenings, but it will be released on DVD.

Jackson's fans – to whom the film is dedicated – should love every moment of the movie; but even those with a passing familiarity with his music or are just plain curious should leave This Is It with an appreciation of what a remarkable, exceptionally gifted musical artist Jackson was, no matter what their opinion of Jackson the person is.

A documentary on Jackson and his controversial life may one day follow; here we have, as the title of the song saved for the end says, a reflection of how the man in the mirror most likely would have wanted the world to see and remember him.

- © Fairfax NZ News