MICHAEL
(director/writer: Antoine Fuqua; screenwriter: John Logan; cinematographer: Dion Beebe; editors: Conrad Buff, Tom Cross, John Ottman, Harry Yoon; music: Michael Jackson; cast: Jaafar Jackson (Michael Jackson), Colman Domingo (Joseph Jackson), Nia Long (Katherine Jackson), Laura Harrier (Suzanne de Passe), Klendrick Sampson (Quincy Jones), Juliano Valdi (Michael at 10), KeiLyn Durrel Jones (Bill Bray, Michael’s bodyguard), Miles Teller (John Branca, film’s producer), Deon Cole (Don King, boxing promoter), Jamal R. Henderson (Jermaine, Michael’s older brother), Rhyan Hill (Tito, Michael’s older brother), Tre Horton (Marlon, Michael’s older brother), Joseph-David Jones (Jackie, Michael’s older brother), Jessica Sula (La Toya Jackson), Larenz Tate (Berry Gordon, President of Motown), Liv Symone (Gladys Knight), Mike Myers (Walter Yetnikoff, President of CBS Records); Runtime: 127; MPAA Rating: PG-13; producers: Graham King, John Branca, John McClain; A Lionsgate release; 2026)
“Disappointing first of a two-part biopic on Michael.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Antoine Fuqua (“Tears of the Sun”/”Training Day”) poorly directs and co-writes with John Logan this $170 million budgeted Jackson estate approved fluff musical biopic on the legendary scandal-ridden King of Pop star, Michael Jackson (1958-2009). It’s hard to find anything in this tone deaf cliched piece of crap that isn’t bland and doesn’t fully support the virtues of the pop star as an innocent child-like Peter Pan character. What’s the point of this glossy musical is to make Jackson look good by keeping him away from any controversial things (no sleeping with the kiddies here) or mention of any of the notorious things he was accused of doing later on in his career to children. It’s like watching a film on Harvey Weinstein and not mentioning the producer’s ‘casting couch’ rapes but instead telling us only about the wonderful films he made.
It traces Michael’s early family life with his five older brothers, where he was the 8th of 10 children, raised by his punitive and abusive steel-mill father Joe (Colman Domingo) and his musician mom (Nia Long), in the Gary, Indiana, of 1966, before the family re-located to California.
His emergence as a talented child performer in a family act (The Jackson 5) is noted. Then his solo act and his albums such as Off the Wall (1979) and Thriller (1982), and his successful London concert in Wembley Stadium (1988). He was a star by the ripe old age of 10.
Michael Jackson is played in 1978 by his 29-year-old nephew, Jaafar Jackson, who dances and sings like the star.
The musical sequences are glossy, and include the following songs: Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough, Beat It, Billie Jean, Thriller, Black or White, and Human Nature.
However the inert film offers us nothing new about Michael we don’t already know, and offers no deeper dive into him than to let us see him without questioning his psychological make-up (like the time when he dangled a baby over a balcony). It’s such a superficial film, it can’t even clue us in on how Michael’s childhood was taken away from him by his cruel father or how strangely he behaved throughout his adult life after becoming so fucked-up in his childhood.
This is the disappointing first of a two-part biopic on Michael, which leaves off at the 1988 “Bad” tour. It should appeal to the supportive members of his family (no Janet is seen here) and the unquestioning fans of the great performer.
REVIEWED ON 4/25/2026 GRADE: C-
dennisschwartzreviews.com