Michael (2026)

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Hello, my friends, and welcome back to Movie Deputy Reviews, where if you caught my little live thing that I did on our Facebook page a couple days ago, you know, the movie we're talking about, and if you notice the poster that kind of gives it away too, or the title, basically any of it, you know, we are talking about Michael. If you are not familiar with Michael, it is the new movie about Michael Jackson. It's the biopic of him. And in this movie, it is his life from 1966 to 1984. And along that, we get to see quite a few different things and we get to experience quite a few different things from Michael's point of view. Now, this is important to touch on is that this movie is done from Michael's point of view. And if you have. If you're not familiar with this or if you've been under a rock, possibly the Michael is being portrayed by his nephew, Jafar Jackson, and that. This is his nephew that is playing him. He's trained for years learning how to dance like Michael, how to move like Michael, and even how to talk like Michael. If you thought that this was Michael's voice, then you are sadly mistaken. His natural voice was in a lot lower tone, like what we are, like what we converse with with each other. But he trained his voice to always be. Talk into this higher p because it kind of helped keep his vocal cords trained. And yes, I'm exaggerating this a little bit, but it is his story from as much as we can understand from his perspective now in saying that his son Prince was one of the executive producers of this movie. And while they probably got a lot of things right, they got enough stuff that was just wrong that Paris did not come to the premiere. Paris didn't want anything to do with this because there were some things that they did not get right. And with watching this, I am. I'm honestly, as of the point that I started recording this this morning, I'm not 100% certain where I'm at with the score. I. I know, but I don't know because, oh, I'm gonna get into that a little bit more. But before we get into that too deep, I actually want to share with you the trailer for Michael. You know me, no spoilers. I will never spoil anything here, but I hate spoilers, so I would never do that to you. And I was so excited for this movie. And just for a little bit of backstory, I absolutely loved Bohemian Rhapsody. Like, that was on my top 10 list for the year. I absolutely loved Rocket Man. And this was being done by one of the producers of Bohemian Rhapsody. And so I try to come into movies with tempered expectations, but this one, I was a huge Michael Jackson fan back in the day. And honestly, up until heck, I'm still a Michael Jackson fan. So that doesn't really work for that. But like, back when Thriller first came out, my cousin Jody came over to my house. She was babysitting me one day and she brought the Thriller record and she played it for me and I was hooked. And the album had just come out. I mean, it was like brand, brand new. And I was so excited, I just fell in love with Thriller. And then when the video finally got on mtv, which that's kind of addressed here, a little bit of the movie, I won't spoil anything there, but just kind of the whole everything with his music. And I have a few favorites of his that I would call my personal favorite. Some of lesser known songs. One of them is Ben, One of them is Gone Too Soon. So if you've never heard of those songs by Michael, then you might want to look those up. Everybody knows like Beat it and Thriller and all the other ones. But some of my favorites are some of his lesser knowns. But I. And I'd always wanted to see him live. And the funny thing is I had never had a chance to. And finally he announced that this, this Is it was his final tour. And I'm like, I don't care how much the tickets cost. I don't care if I'll be in the nosebleeds. I am going to the this Is it tour. And then he died way too soon. That the whole, that could be a whole other story in and of itself. And I came into this movie expecting, oh, okay, I know they can't cover everything in his life. To cover everything in his life. And yes, I'm going to be getting to the trailer. But to cover everything in his life, this movie would have to be like six hours long or longer. But so it touches on key points from his. From the earliest start, before the Jackson 5 was really the Jackson 5, like their very earliest moments, to his tours with the Jackson 5, to him branching out into his solo career and what that did to him. To him and what that did his relationship with his family and his fascination with Neverland. This movie kind of touches on that throughout the movie. Now, like, before I get too far into this any further, I want, I want to get over here to share in the trailer with you. And I'm going to be sharing a few little Tidbits also about the movie that a lot of people probably aren't aware of. So let's check this out. [00:05:51] Speaker B: You're confident, you're strong, you're beautiful. You're the greatest of all time. [00:06:06] Speaker C: Let me tell you something. In this life, y' all the winner for your loser. Y' all wanna work in a steel mill like me for the rest of your days? No, sir. Yeah. Cause I sure as hell don't. Y' all willing to fight for it? [00:06:20] Speaker A: Yes, sir. [00:06:21] Speaker C: I need to hear you a little louder. Y' all willing to fight for it? [00:06:23] Speaker A: Yes, sir. Ready whenever you are, Michael. Woo. [00:06:33] Speaker B: Do you know what I'm after? [00:06:37] Speaker A: My. To be the biggest star in the [00:06:38] Speaker C: world, we need to capitalize on Michael's success. Because the Jackson family is the brand that's our Coca Cola. And we need to start selling. So I'm planning an international tour. [00:06:51] Speaker A: This is just the beginning. [00:06:56] Speaker B: I need to think. [00:06:58] Speaker C: I told you to think. [00:07:03] Speaker B: I love my family, but I just want to do my own thing. Just have all these ideas in my head. Just gotta get em out and do it. [00:07:14] Speaker C: Michael, not a little boy anymore. [00:07:17] Speaker A: People always show me, be careful what you do, Michael. [00:07:21] Speaker B: I knew you were different the moment you were born. [00:07:24] Speaker A: You have a very special life. And mother always told me I beat yeah. Who you love. [00:07:29] Speaker B: I believe in music can change the [00:07:31] Speaker A: world becomes a draw. [00:07:37] Speaker B: Spread love, joy and peace. That is what I want the world to feel. Magic. [00:07:57] Speaker A: That's one thing he did without question. And his story begins. And that's really the big thing about this movie is it's his story begins. Because this is not his entire story. It honestly, it ends so abruptly. You're just kind of going what? No, that. Why, like don't stop there. Come on, give us, give us a point to stop at that. It doesn't just leave us going to the edge of our seats. And that's. It wasn't just me that was like that at the end of the movie I'm just as like going, they stopped it there. And it said that there's going to be more soon. So I don't know if there's going to be. I'm hoping there's going to be a part two to this. It'll probably help a lot of this make more sense. If you're wondering who the guy is that's referencing working in the steel mill and saying that's kind of the patriarch of the family. Because he was the patriarch of the family. That's Joseph Jackson. That, that's the, that's Michael's father. And then of course, his wonderful mother, Catherine Jackson, as we have seen here portrayed in the film as well. For Eagle Eyes, there is a guest, kind of a guest appearance a little bit. Mike Myers, that'll. That a lot of people probably wouldn't even think to look for in this one. But it's just kind of a little bit of a tidbit there. And that's not the special thing. The special thing is it's actually when they were do. When they were basically portraying the filming of the Thriller video in the movie, it actually takes place where the original Thriller video was filmed. They found like the exact spot, the exact street, the whole bit. And they have Jafar playing Michael at this exact same spot where literally history was made, where Thriller was filmed. And Thriller is when you think of some of the most iconic music videos of all time. I'm sorry, Thriller is right there. I mean, I. I love to take Carnival cruises. Carnival, Shout out to Carnival. Nothing, nothing kickback or anything there. I just love Carnival. And they have this thing on most of. I think most of their cruises. I've seen that on at least most of the ones I've been on where you can take this class and learn how to do the Thriller dance. The whole. The whole bit. Not walking like an Egyptian. I didn't mean for it to look like that. But yeah, you can actually learn to dance to Thriller. And that is so much fun. It is. It is so much fun to do that and just kind of just lose yourself in that. It's like I said, it's a lot of fun. Now, mind you, there. It wasn't without controversy. Controversy. His life wasn't without controversy. The movie. Movie doesn't address any of that. The movie vaguely touches on the whole thing about being the gloved one. If you are familiar with the 80s at all. And you kind of caught the glimpse of him briefly there with the rhinestone glove on, as there was a point in his career where he just wore a single rhinestone glove. Never really explained why, just it was like his signature thing. And of course the red leather jacket is signature Michael. I don't. I cannot see a red leather jacket to this day without thinking of Michael. Any style of jacket, if it's red and it's leather, my brain automatically goes, Michael Jackson. And it's just kind of one of those, like, weird things. So I came into this with really high expectations. I'm like, okay, they've got his nephew who looks similar enough to him that this is a thing. And then he's doing all of this stuff so he can move like Michael, and then it's just these fluid movements. Well, like Michael was. I mean, there wasn't no. There was no jerky movement or anything to it unless it was intentional. Everything with him had a plan. He planned it out and he had all these ideas in his head and all these songs in his head and all this creativity that he wanted to bring to life. And he did so in ways that we've never seen. And in doing that, it cost him in ways. It cost him things with his family, it cost him things with the. The record industry, it cost him relationships, it cost him his reputation. I don't know what you believe, what you don't believe in. Like, a lot of the controversy that he. That got caught up with all that. Again, the movie didn't get to addressing any of that. And honestly, I'm. It probably will in the. In part two, because this, like I said, it was 66 to 84 of what we see here. So we get to see from a very young Michael. And I appreciate that they stayed so true to his costumes and the design. And there are times when watching this that you forget that you're watching Jafar and you feel like you're watching Michael. Now, I understand that this is Jafar's acting debut. I completely understand that. And I know I'm gonna get some hate for this, but he fell out of character like it was Michael and then it wasn't Michael and then it was Michael and then it wasn't Michael and then it was Michael and then it wasn't Michael. It just kept going back and forth like there were. There were times that you truly believe you're watching Michael on stage, on the film. And then there were other times when you're just as like, come on. Like I said, I know it's his debut and I know I'm not dissing at all his representation of playing his uncle. I don't know if anybody else could have done it better. So I need to put that out there. I really don't know if anybody else could have done it better because he had ties. I mean, this is. This is his nephew. That was his uncle. And to say iconic is an understatement. And it's just the way that that is done throughout. And there's just one other thing. I understand the movie is about Michael. I understand. I mean, they have to include stuff with the Jackson 5 and with his mom and with his dad and with everything, with his love of Neverland and why he loves Neverland so much. That was really a very poignant part of this that I think a lot of people may miss his love of Peter Pan and Neverland and what that meant. And it was about innocence. A lot of people can very easily misconstrue that. But everything having to do with Neverland involved innocence. So again, I know I'm going to get some hate and stuff on some of this, but so be it. This is what is presented my biggest hang up with the movie. And like I said, I understand it wasn't the focus. I fully understand it wasn't the focus. But this movie was taking place during the late 60s, all through the 70s and up through the mid-80s. Now, okay, I'm a child of the 70s. I was born in 74, so I'll be. I'm going to be 52 this year. These gray stripes that show up, I mean, I own them, it's me. But one thing that the 70s and 80s, oh, 60s, 70s and 80s are known for was fashion and hair. In the late 60s, it was led the whole greased back, just the simpler the better. Or like the French, just basic, just really simple hairstyles. But as you got in the 70s and 80s, the clothes got wild and the hair got wilder. I don't know if that's really a term for that. And then the hair, I'm sorry, 80s hair literally stood up to here. If you don't believe me, Google it. Google girls hair in the 80s. And I'm not just talking teen girls, I'm talking women of all ages. You're talking where you went through a can of Aqua Net, like a great big can of Aqua Net all the time. But. And the hair was huge. The bigger the hair, the bigger your status, basically. And as it's showing the audiences and it's showing the people around his life and it's showing all of this and it's basically looking like people today, like, no, I know that wasn't the focus of the movie, but it was so distracting to somebody who pays attention to the details. If you are watching this movie, movie purely for Michael, for Jafar playing Michael, and you're watching his life unfold and you're not paying attention to anything going on around it, you probably give this movie mid sevens, mid eights. If you get caught up in the. In character, out of character, in character, out of character and all of the, the timeline stuff, okay, they had the cars mostly correct. People who know a lot about cars. There's a few distractions there too, but it's just a. It's not something that the average person is going to notice. And I don't want to distract your brain from that because that's not the. Of the movie. And I keep having to remind myself of that because I keep getting stuck there because I'm noticing these little mistakes. And I noticed them in Bohemian Rhapsody and I noticed them in Rocketman, but they were a lot more in tune to the whole picture of what was going on. And like some of the biggest concerts that are taking place here hit the last night of the Victory Tour, his first night of solo concert in London. And where the movie ends so abruptly. It's such an iconic point in his life. It's such an iconic point in his career. And then the screen goes black and you're like, no, I wasn't the only one just going, no. And he notice. I haven't even said if this movie is guilty or innocent yet. The innocence of Michael is innocent. Dealing with some of the stuff he dealt with, with some of the racial. Just very minorly, the racial epitaphs and stuff with that and the violence of his father. That's why I'm going to be giving this movie a guilty rating. Because there are some of those scenes that are hard to watch. I found myself tearing up and just where I was having to. I wasn't sobbing, but where I had to take a breath because they're. They are intense. But that is the point. That is the point is because those parts of his life were intense. So where am I at on this movie? Like I said, it's. There's parts of it that you want to give mid sevens to mid eights. There's parts of it that are. For me just. I'm not talking personally. I'm just talking like purely on the deputy scale. There's other parts that are in the threes. If you're wondering why this is shaking, I apologize. But Taro's up against the monitor and he is giving himself a bath and is shaking my whole computer. So that's why I kind of look like I'm doing this a little bit. But back to the story. When I walked out of this movie, I didn't walk out of the movie when. When the credits are all done. And feel free to check the description down below because there's a special dedication thing that I able to capture the entire thing and put that down in there. So that's at the end of the credits. But after the credits are all done and I'm leaving the theater, I'm Like, I was really stuck on the score because I'm like, I loved the portrayal, but I just was cringing at all the stuff they got wrong. And the Michael stuff they got right. They really didn't. They tarot. Stop. Like I said, they could not have found any better. The fact that he was in and out of character throughout the movie, I don't want to fault him for. He's brand new. This is his first acting debut, and to take on a role like this would have been nearly impossible for anybody, much less his nephew. And so I need to acknowledge that because on a personal level, I probably want to give this movie a solid seven and a half. But staying purely true to the Deputy scale. I can't. I can't. There's just too many mistakes. So I am giving Michael. Hang on. Hang on to your seats here, everybody. And like I said, refer to the movie deputy rating scale. It's at the end of the review here. Stop. And, like, look at that. I've got it. At the end of a lot of my reviews. I've started putting it on there so people who don't understand understand. But I am giving Michael a 5.5 out of 10 on the deputy scale. I know, I know. I know. I can hear you already. But when you consider, like, I have to take into account A5 is. It's. A5 is. Decent story, significant flaws. And this is a good story. Don't get me wrong. This is a memorable story. It's. The plot has questionable content, for sure. And knowing that there are things that even the family acknowledges that they. Some got right and some got it wrong, but that it's amazing. And there are a lot of this movie. There's a lot of parts of this movie that are, in fact, amazing. By. If you've ever been a fan of Michael, this is one that you're gonna want to go see. And I hope there's a part two. And I hope they pick up where they left off, because they ended it at such a junction point that you're just. [00:22:00] Speaker C: No. [00:22:02] Speaker A: And I'll be honest, I was angry at first. When they first with that. When the screen went black and you're, like, watching it, and it's like, okay, is it gonna restart? Like, this can't be the end. They can't end it here. And then you realize it's been two hours. You're like, that probably is where they ended it. So I'm looking forward to seeing what else comes from this. I want. I want to see him progress as Michael. I want to see him shine as Michael like he did here. There are so many of these scenes where he just shines and where you feel like you were watching Michael on the state on the screen instead of Jafar. And I think that is the biggest and most beautiful tribute that could have been done. So if you've ever been a fan of Michael Jackson, please go see this movie. It is very, very, it has a lot of depth to it. It is very, very moving. That's the word I was trying to find. And if you haven't done so already, please make sure and click that subscribe button and turn on that notification bell because you're not going to want to miss movies like this. I know my review here is going really long, especially as far as I'm concerned on reviews because I'm going to try to keep most of them are on the 10 minute mark and so I do apologize on that. But there was so much here to cover between like the things of the Thriller video and the Mike Myers stuff and just some of the the other little things like that. And it's just all of it needed to be addressed and things like that. This, these will go a little bit longer. But as always, I will be back with another movie for you tomorrow and I can't wait to see what you think of that one too. And then we're going to have another announcement coming up at the first part of the week, so you don't want to miss a moment of it. As always, I'll be back soon. Bye.