Michael (2026) review

The film has this golden and brownish cinematic color palette that gives it a warm feeling. It is about family drama and freedom. The father feels like the counterpart of the Colonel in Elvis, treating the artist more like a product to be controlled than a person to be understood. After 1 hour and 10 minutes, the energy ramps up with Beat It. It feels like breaking free from his father is what had been dragging us all down with the pacing of the film. But after that burst, the energy settles again. Come here if you want a humanized Michael Jackson, rather than a larger than life icon. Maybe that is why the critics hated it, there is not as much singing and dancing as people might expect We all know the songs, but this is a biopic. This reminds me of the pacing of The Aviator, but this one is full of heart.