What Critics Are Saying About ‘This Is It’

So far the flick has done boffo box office. Sony, which is distributing “This Is It,” reports late-night showings alone brought in $2.2 million – a figure Sony calls “unprecedented” for any film.

What are the critics saying? A sampling of reviews shows mostly favorable reactions. We’ve included a cross section of critiques below. Of course, you can post your own appraisal of “This Is It” in the comment thread at the end of this posting.

“‘This Is It’ is fun, but it’s a slightly airless experience. If the movie allows you to bask in Michael Jackson’s aura, it also uses his image to foster ‘nostalgia’ for a concert epiphany that never quite was.” – Entertainment Weekly

“He has always been a dancer first, and then a singer. He doesn’t specialize in solos. With the exception of a sweet love ballad, his songs all incorporate four backup singers and probably supplementary tracks prerecorded by himself. It is the whole effect he has in mind.” – Roger Ebert / Chicago Sun-Times

“‘Michael Jackson’s This Is It’ is heartbreaking, exhilarating, baffling. In other words, it expresses the performer’s persona in its purest form.” – Christian Science Monitor

“Ultimately, ‘This Is It’ can only offer a striking suggestion of may have been to come. On one level, that makes it frustrating by definition. But, by virtue of its rarity, and its many exhilarating moments, that also makes ‘This Is It’ something to be savored.” – New York Daily News

“The movie doesn’t exactly bring Jackson closer to the audience, doesn’t make him any easier to figure out. He remains a remote, inscrutable, soft-spoken, somewhat needy presence. But then he begins to dance and his fragility hardens into purpose.” – Chicago Tribune

“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.” – Los Angeles Times

“We don’t get to pick the pop-culture icons of our lifetime, but the flawed MJ was ours, and as a performer, he was spectacular. Watching him croon Human Nature or gyrate to Beat It, we can only conclude that this show would have revitalized his career. As it is, it will have to stand as a reminder of a terrible loss. ‘This Is It’ is for fans only, and it will have to be enough.” – Miami Herald

“The movie opens, after a bit of scrolling text, on a worshipful note, with a number of the concert dancers weeping and excitedly talking into the camera about the gig and their love for (the still living) Mr. Jackson. It’s an easy way into the material, but it’s also smart, partly because these tears help prime the audience’s pump. The testimonials add to the overall deification that comes with any larger-than-life star production. But more important, they instantly invest some authentic feeling into a project (product) that has seemed devoid of soul from the minute it was announced.” – The New York Times

“Even when just marking his movements, Jackson shows signs of the physical and vocal fluidity and sheer charisma that he retained. Watching him work with his band and backup singers and dancers, one senses the excitement and joy that talented performers can bring to the often grueling process of assembling a show.” – USA Today

“But ‘This Is It’ is a beautifully made, loving tribute that gives Michael Jackson what he so desperately wanted — affirmation that he indeed was the greatest entertainer of our time.” – Associated Press