Hello world, I am extremely excited to bring to you my latest movie review (popcorn time?):
This is it:
4.25 stars out of 5 stars
Have you ever watched a film that made you feel happy, sad, moved, and contemplative all at the same time? “This is it” was one of those films for me. Before delving into the details of this wonderfully crafted film, let me just get a thing or two off of my chest: I know where I was on June 25, 2009, and I bet that many of you do too. For any of my readers who are not aware, that was the day when Michael Jackson passed away, and I can recall coming home after a full day of summer classes and hearing the bad news. Most of us never took the time to understand the king of pop while he was alive, but then again the thing he wanted the most was his privacy. This movie demonstrates the true nature of his personality in different aspects. As a fan of Michael Jackson’s music while growing up, I learned a very important rule about viewing someone like him: you must separate the man from the music. No one will ever know the truth behind all of the legal matters with which he dealt, but I do know that there will only ever be one Thriller. “This is it“ was a profound movie, covering four months of rehearsals before Jackson’s untimely death (murder?) and it does a fantastic job of combining this footage into one cohesive work. This film portrays MJ as an extremely humble man, however he also manifested a tendency towards being a perfectionist. He performed several of his most popular songs, so please allow me to share my favorite five performances with you:
5. They don’t care about us: this moving song was improved by the creativity of Kenny Ortega, who not only directed this film but also was responsible for putting together this entire concert. He used the “green screen” effect; eleven dancers dressed up as soldiers were magnified to look as if there were one thousand one hundred soldiers on the stage. Originally written as a protest to discrimination, “they don’t care about us” was assisted by special effects which reinforced the point.
4. Thriller: I don’t think anyone would doubt that this is top five material, even if you have not viewed the film (I remember “watching” this video on MTV in the 1980’s). However, the astounding array of special effects really blew me away: it looked like a haunted house with dead bodies, rats and spiders, and plenty of other scary surprises to accompany Michael Jackson on stage for this classic.
3. Earth Song: I believe that MJ was ahead of his time when he wrote this song about saving our planet, and his vocals were pitch perfect. Certain images accompanied the song which enhanced the experience: they told the story of a little girl who wandered through a forest, fell asleep, and woke up to find the forest destroyed by man. Jackson’s voice is heard at the end telling of the dangers of Global Warming and the lack of time left, and I found it to be very moving.
2. Human Nature: I enjoyed this song due to the lack of the special effects which had dominated so much of his other performances. In the movie, he sings Human Nature first as an acapella, then acoustic, and finally through using the full band. He perfects his craft along the way and this was one of his most brilliant moments.
1. I can’t stop loving you: Mr. Jackson shined the most on this song which he sang with Judith Hill (one of his backup singers who was excellent herself). It felt as if he strived to hit even higher and better notes because of some imaginary competition between Judith and himself. My view of the way in which concerts should be performed can best be summarized as anti-special effects. Therefore, “I can’t stop loving you” fit the bill perfectly.
I recommend this movie to everyone, no matter how you feel about Michael Jackson or even about music in general. I do not believe that there will ever be another icon like Michael Jackson and this movie provides a unique opportunity to learn more about this musical genius.
Dan