Back then, these music movies always went for the big Hollywood names. The guys who’ve been around, who can shoulder the pressure. You saw Rami Malek do Freddie, Taron Egerton all sparkled up as Elton, Austin Butler shook his hips like Elvis, Jeremy Allen White about to be The Boss. Real actors, real polished. They know how to work a camera and they’ve got that swagger that says “yeah, I belong here.”
But this Michael picture? Nah, they didn’t play it that way. Didn’t go hunting through casting calls for some actor who could pretend to be him. Would’ve been wrong anyway you can’t act Michael.
They went to the bloodline. Jaafar Jackson. His nephew. Kid’s never done a movie in his life, but man… it doesn’t matter. You see it straight away. The jaw, the stance, the way he moves like the beat’s been in him since birth. It’s not acting. It’s inheritance.
We used to say nobody could touch Michael. Nobody could duplicate that magic. And watching Jaafar, you get it, they weren’t looking for the best actor. They were looking for the closest echo. And maybe that’s the only way you even try to tell Michael’s story. You don’t imitate the impossible. You let family carry the flame.
Michael knocks you flat in the best way. Jaafar Jackson? Man, that kid don’t act Michael, he is him. Should’ve seen the way he moves. It’s spooky. Like Michael walked off the Smooth Criminal set and into this film. Give him every award they got. The dancing’s out of this world, the music hits you right in the chest, and the whole cast shows up ready. You’re watching and you forget you’re in a theatre. Feels like a concert, feels like 1988 again.
But I’ll tell you what hurts. The story. They gave us the glitter but not the guts. It skates across the surface big dance number, quick talk, big song, quick talk and never slows down enough to show you why Michael became Michael. What drove him. What broke him. What made that genius tick. You leave tapping your feet, sure, but you don’t leave knowing him. And for us who grew up with him, who wore out Off the Wall and stood in line for Thriller, that’s the part we needed most.
It’s a hell of a show. Just wish it let us meet the man.
I waited years for this. Years. Ever since Bad dropped, I said, “Somebody better put Michael’s life on the big screen and do it right.”
It ain’t a bad movie. Don’t let nobody tell you that. But great? The kind of great Michael deserved? It doesn’t reach there. The problem’s simple: it don’t go deep enough. You get the surface, the shine, but not the soul behind the sequin glove.
Now Jaafar that boy saved it. That’s Michael’s blood, and you feel it. It ain’t just the look. Anybody can wear the jacket. It’s the little things. The way his eyebrow lifts before a lyric. The way his voice catches, soft, then sharp. The shoulders, the hands, the way he breathes before he moves. There were times I forgot I was watching a movie.
And it’s more than dancing. Everybody expected him to hit the spins and the toe-stand. He does. Perfect. But what sticks with me is the quiet. The stillness between the notes. The way he carries something heavy and holy when he’s not saying a word. That ain’t imitation. That’s connection. Like Michael’s spirit sat down in him and said, “Go on, nephew.”
You don’t just see a performance. You feel a presence. And for a few minutes, Michael’s back in the hall with us.
That’s what this movie does. When the lights come up, you realize you didn’t just watch something. You lived through it. Loud. Alive. Hit you in the chest and didn’t let go, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Take it from me: see it big. See it in a theatre. The bass shakes your ribs. The music’s everywhere. The whole hall breathes with him. That’s the only way you feel what we felt back then how unreal Michael’s energy was.
I’m giving it a 9 out of 10. And only a 9 ‘cause it fades out on Bad. Come on. You take me that far, you got to take me a little further. Should have gave me Smooth Criminal and Man in the Mirror. Let me leave the theatre changed, not just blown away.
Remember why we called him King of Pop.
ENDS
By Sam Trailerman
Nganasegaran (tapessam@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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