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Techtite's Movie Reviews! |
"The only real flaws with this movie are not the movie's fault, since the footage of this concert is understandably incomplete. However, wow; what a performer Michael was, and what a concert this would've been." --from the review ------------- Sidebar :: ------------- No Sidebar Comments For This Review. Yet... ----------------- Feel free to contribute. As always, review submissions are accepted! ------------------
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This Is ItReview by TechtiteAnyone who thinks that This Is It is purely an attempt to rake in cash at Michael Jackson's expense, should definitely see this film. Not only is it an excellent view of Michael behind the scenes; it shows all of the many people who invested a lot of time and expense into a comeback tour that will never happen. It's one thing to be a fan and to hear he passed away; can you imagine being close to him, talking to him in person, and all set to tour with him, only to hear the tragic news of his preventable death?The prologue, which is almost deafeningly silent, explains that this footage was filmed around April and May of this year, and was intended purely as private footage that Michael would enjoy as archive footage of his tour. After his sad passing, the footage was edited into movie form showing chronologically what the show would have looked like as much as possible, as well as behind the scenes footage going as far back as the original auditions of dancers for the show. The good news for fans is that regardless of this all being preliminary dance routines and dress rehearsals, it shows an exceptional amount of what the show would've looked like had it happened. You see how Michael intended to have a huge screen as a backdrop, and have a stage made in such a way that dancers seemingly danced from the screen out onto the real stage. You see how many of his most popular songs included additional props, like dancers carrying "ghosts" down the aisles during Thriller, or a gigantic bulldozer dramatically coming out onto stage and nearly hitting Michael during his Earth Song. In addition, you get to see all the hard work and effort that was put into this show, and how exceptional it would've been had anyone got to see it in its final form. You see the audition process for dancers, the elation of the dancers who get chosen, and the rigorous choreography they go through for each dance number. Anecdotes are offered by dancers, choreographers, musicians, costume makers, and many others. One likely question: given Michael's extensive list of hits, what songs are present, and which are not? Suffice to say that I was quite pleased with the extensive array of songs present. Thriller was a given, though he also offers a song from his Jackson 5 years, all the way to his modern hits. There are even scenes of the films that were made for backdrops behind the stage. In footage for the song Smooth Criminal, for example, we see how green screen was used to place Michael Jackson into a classic black and white gangster movie. For the Thriller routines, we see how they intended to film additional footage never seen before, exclusive for this concert tour, such as a giant spider which would seemingly walk from the film out onto the front stage(!). While concert viewers would have to have seen these background "movies" on the screen behind the stage, this movie shows these film shorts full-screen. So in a sense we're seeing the concert better than most of the people would have seen it, had they gone to the actual concert! Though even more interestingly, you see Michael as a person, as well as a performer. You see him laughing at jokes made by others in his team, as well as defending background dancers when the producer, at one point, seemingly becomes a little short with them (at one point the producer asks the other dancers if they did not see the cue they were given, only to have Michael say in so many words that hey; he was planning for a different "cue" anyway). In the end; the only real flaw with this film is hardly the movie's fault. After all; this footage was never meant to be a "movie," nor was it meant to even be a complete record of the concert. Footage of Michael Jackson's planned new (and sadly final) song, This is It, was apparently never filmed, forcing the movie to play this song purely in recorded form during the credits. However, one thing is certain, as limited as this concert behind-the-scenes footage is. Michael Jackson was one whale of a performer. If he planned this as his "comeback tour"; his comeback would've been guaranteed. That's how great this concert would have been, and that's one of many reasons this film is so powerful to watch.
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