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100[An] extraordinary documentary, nothing at all like what I was expecting to see. Here is not a sick and drugged man forcing himself through grueling rehearsals, but a spirit embodied by music. Michael Jackson was something else.
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91Heartbreaking, exhilarating, baffling. In other words, it expresses the performer's persona in its purest form.
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90What this strange yet strangely beguiling film does is capture one of pop culture's great entertainers in the feverish grips of pure creativity.
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90One of the best documents of live performance that I've ever seen, a rehearsal diary that's more intimate and immediate than a traditional concert film.
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90A spectacular record of rehearsals for a show that wasn't to be.
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88Watching his struggle is illuminating, unnerving and unforgettable.
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80The late King of Pop delivers.
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80Michael Jackson was obviously shooting for the moon right before his death, as you can tell from these stunning bits of concert spectacle.
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80Watching it, I saw him from some new angles -- painful as well as celebratory -- and I realized that this isn't it: This, as with Elvis' posthumous career, is only the beginning.
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Differing greatly from the rough, casual mood of many behind-the-scenes pop docs, this one is instead of a piece with Jackson's body of work: dazzling and strange, blurring the line between fantasy and reality.
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80There’s an incredible amount to enjoy here, and the star’s fans will be in rapture.
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75He could dance brilliantly right up to the end, it’s clear.This Is It may be a court documentary, but as a heavily lawyered portrait of an artist, it’s still pretty compelling.
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75Reveals little about the personal aspects of the deeply troubled man behind the sunglasses -- it naturally deals with none of the darker aspects of Jackson's life -- but it deftly underlines his commitment to showmanship.
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75Michael Jackson's This Is It looks beyond the reconstructed face and spindly body of the late King of Pop and basks in his meteoric light.
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75If This Is It doesn't miraculously restore the middle-aged Jackson to his past glory, it at least offers glimpses of his bygone greatness, and poignant suggestions of what might have been.
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75Watching Jackson pop, lock, rock, writhe, thrust, and clutch his crotch, even at 50 percent, leaves a feeling of woe: This show really would have been major.
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75An up-tempo and upbeat concert documentary that celebrates, rather than mourns, the last hurrah of a pop-culture touchstone.
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75This Is It offers a raw and endearing sketch of a genius at work.
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70It proves that, at the end, he was still a thriller. Fans and doubters alike can look at the gentle, driven singer-dancer at the center of this up-close document and say admiringly, This was him.
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Captures the singer, dancer, filmmaker, architect, creative genius, and great artist at work as he creates and perfects his final show.
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60This Is It delivers neither the full-on Jackson stage experience or a revealing portrait of his complex mindset. Yet it does not dishonour his memory and you can’t deny the power of the music.
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60The on-screen results are weird and watchable, by turns frustrating and entertaining, and predictably a little morbid.
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58At best, it angrily demands to be rechristened This Is It! Too often, however, an incredulous This Is It? seems more apt.
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50Without either the effect of a full concert spectacle, or up close and personal backstage intimacy, This Is It is neither one thing nor the other.
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50Neither a true concert film nor a strict behind-the-scenes documentary, This Is It is, like Jackson himself, a real hybrid.
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If you're a big Michael Jackson fan, you'll love This Is It. If you're not, it's like watching two hours of band practice.
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50The problem is that Ortega offers only the public Michael.
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More bonkers Jackson-at-work moments would’ve helped, but mostly we just see the kid from Gary, Indiana, dispensing hugs and God-bless-you's to an awed cast and crew. Watching various dancers and guitarists grin irrepressibly during their one-on-one run-throughs with the man is one of This Is It’s few pleasures.
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40Bottom line: the spectacle he was preparing may well have provided Jackson with the appropriate note on which to close his long, controversial career. This, however, I think even die hard fans will concur, isn't it.
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25Neither a concert film nor a documentary but a ghoulish “event” offered just in time for Halloween, This is It is sadly -- and reprehensively, if you ask me -- the movie equivalent to the National Enquirer’s infamous post-mortem shot of Elvis Presley.
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Those who stuck with the troubled pop icon after his universe shifted from the charts to the tabloids probably will find equal measures of inspiration and heartbreak in the documentary. For everyone else, it's a strange offering.
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For a man who so desperately wanted to show us perfection -- or at least project the illusion of it -- Jackson would never, ever want us to see this film.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 66 out of 80
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Mixed: 1 out of 80
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Negative: 13 out of 80
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8A really good documentary about a true artist and professional at work. Just spectacular musician and perfectionist.
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8