The final scene of “Michael” (2026) takes us back to the very first scene of the movie. Michael Jackson (Jaafar Jackson) in his iconic red sparkly jacket with zippers galore and his curly black hair in a ponytail. A faded out crowd chanting his name in two distinct syllables. The movie cuts to Michael, center stage, ready with his body to the side, feet crisscrossing and head pointed down. At this point in the movie, this is his first album, “Bad” (1987), since “Thriller” (1982). The intro to “Bad” kicks in. All this anticipation for pretty bad audio quality with terrible singing. 

With disappointing music performances, a weak plot and scenes leaving me wishing they had moon-walked in another direction, “Michael” had me disillusioned.

I enjoyed how Michael Jackson’s family members in real life helped the film by ensuring accuracy. Jafaar is Michael’s real-life nephew who played him in the movie. Other Jackson family members helped with producing, reading scripts and providing input. With this support and integrity for the movie, “Micheal” is bound to be the perfect biography, so I thought.

The last scene of “Michael” is in reference to Michael Jackson’s opening night of his debut solo “Bad World Tour” in Tokyo. A monumental moment for Michael because this was the first time he was solo and truly had the freedom to express himself. And yet, to serve that tour justice, it gives viewers vocals you can barely hear. Although, at least the dance moves were there. The performances in real life usually lasted two hours, so I wasn’t expecting the whole concert. But in the movie, it only gives us one song out of the whole performance, Bad. It was a little disappointing.

Adding to the disappoint, the makeup in this movie was atrocious. Jaafar Jackson did not look like a real person with his prosthetics. Some might argue that depiction is accurate because Michael Jackson did not look like a real person, but somehow it all made the movie itself feel fake. 

Going into the film, I had pretty high expectations because the producer was Graham King. Another movie he produced, “Bohemian Rhapsody” (2018), is amazing. I loved that movie so much because it showed how Freddie Mercury dealt with his problems to become the front-man of Queen. It also showed more than one song at Queen’s legendary Live Aid performance, which was one of the greatest scenes in the movie.

I would have been happy if “Michael” was just another “Bohemian Rhapsody” as I enjoyed how drama-heavy it was. But for “Michael,” it was more showing us about how his career unfolded. There were moments of character development, like the relationship with his father, Joe Jackson (Coleman Domingo), but it wasn’t enough to sustain the whole movie. I wanted the focus to be more on personal struggles Micheal faced rather than a back-and-forth conflict with his dad. 

Joe forced Michael and his brothers into the music industry in early childhood to make The Jackson 5. He was abusive to Michael as a kid but also managed to make the band successful. When Michael got older, he wanted to leave The Jackson 5 to pursue a solo career. Of course, Joe did not like that and tried everything in his power to be his manager.

It turns into a back-and-forth battle between Joe trying to control and own Michael and Michael working on solo projects. When Michael announces in one of his performances that he is putting an end to the Jackson 5, it is a very empowering moment. Especially since Joe becomes a character you love to hate.

The weakness of the Michael-vs-Joe plotline is a reminder that this is a film made without the input of Michael Jackson himself, who died in 2009. Because of that what we get is the family, a group perspective, of what happened rather than more of a perspective in the mind of Michael. This fundamental flaw in the film is at its worst when we get something I call “the burnt hair arc.” 

During one of the music videos, Michael’s hair catches on fire. He then spends a whole two weeks in the hospital. Afterward, he is better. That is it. This scene, I just described in three sentences, goes on for 20 minutes. Everyone in the movie acts like this freak accident will change Michael’s life. But after 20 minutes in the movie, Michael continues performing. It does not change anything about the movie at all. The problem that erupted is now Michael has to wear a part of a wig. But other than that, it contributes nothing to the story. 

The only redeemable quality of “the burnt hair arc” is Michael talking to burn-victim kids and donating money to the hospital. This is wholesome, but his generosity could have been shown in a million different ways, and I do not think that scene had to be as long as it was. Scenes like these are what made “Micheal” an unfulfilling movie.

Throughout the movie, it tells more than it shows. It does not provoke a lot of emotion toward Michael’s struggles or character. Instead, it a boring depiction of his career. That’s enough of a reason to not waste your time and money, but there was one aspect of the movie that was completely unforgivable and insulting. Toward the beginning of the movie, Michael gets a chimpanzee named Bubbles (which was a horrible computer-generated imagery). It is a wholesome scene of them hugging when meeting each other for the first time. Michael rescues Bubbles to be his best friend. Afterward, there are maybe two or three other scenes with Bubbles at the beginning until he is never seen again. Where did Bubbles go? This is a giant hole in the story.

I would give “Michael” a 2 out of 5 stars. It is currently available in theaters. But if you ask my opinion, watch “Bohemian Rhapsody” instead, currently available on Netflix.