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Michael Jackson's This Is It
EMAILPRINTColumbia Pictures (Sony)

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 32 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 99 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Documentary | Musical
Written by:
Directed by: Kenny Ortega
Release Date:
Theatrical: October 28, 2009
Running Time: 112 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG for some suggestive choreography and scary images
Starring Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson's This Is It will offer Jackson fans and music lovers worldwide a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the performer as he developed, created and rehearsed for his sold-out concerts that would have taken place beginning this summer in London's O2 Arena. Chronicling the months from April through June, 2009, the film is produced with the full support of the Estate of Michael Jackson and drawn from more than one hundred hours of behind-the-scenes footage, featuring Jackson rehearsing a number of his songs for the show. Audiences will be given a privileged and private look at Jackson as he has never been seen before. In raw and candid detail, "Michael Jackson's This Is It" captures the singer, dancer, filmmaker, architect, creative genius and great artist at work as he creates and perfects his final show. (Sony Pictures)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
[An] extraordinary documentary, nothing at all like what I was expecting to see. Here is not a sick and drugged man forcing himself through grueling rehearsals, but a spirit embodied by music. Michael Jackson was something else.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
Heartbreaking, exhilarating, baffling. In other words, it expresses the performer's persona in its purest form.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt
What this strange yet strangely beguiling film does is capture one of pop culture's great entertainers in the feverish grips of pure creativity.
Read Full Review >Slate Dana Stevens
One of the best documents of live performance that I've ever seen, a rehearsal diary that's more intimate and immediate than a traditional concert film.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
A spectacular record of rehearsals for a show that wasn't to be.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Watching his struggle is illuminating, unnerving and unforgettable.
Read Full Review >Time Out New York Joshua Rothkopf
Michael Jackson was obviously shooting for the moon right before his death, as you can tell from these stunning bits of concert spectacle.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Ann Powers
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.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
Watching it, I saw him from some new angles -- painful as well as celebratory -- and I realized that this isn't it: This, as with Elvis' posthumous career, is only the beginning.
Read Full Review >Variety Andrew Barker
There’s an incredible amount to enjoy here, and the star’s fans will be in rapture.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
This Is It offers a raw and endearing sketch of a genius at work.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
Watching Jackson pop, lock, rock, writhe, thrust, and clutch his crotch, even at 50 percent, leaves a feeling of woe: This show really would have been major.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
He could dance brilliantly right up to the end, it’s clear.This Is It may be a court documentary, but as a heavily lawyered portrait of an artist, it’s still pretty compelling.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
Michael Jackson's This Is It looks beyond the reconstructed face and spindly body of the late King of Pop and basks in his meteoric light.
Read Full Review >USA Today Elysa Gardner
If This Is It doesn't miraculously restore the middle-aged Jackson to his past glory, it at least offers glimpses of his bygone greatness, and poignant suggestions of what might have been.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Connie Ogle
Reveals little about the personal aspects of the deeply troubled man behind the sunglasses -- it naturally deals with none of the darker aspects of Jackson's life -- but it deftly underlines his commitment to showmanship.
Read Full Review >New Orleans Times-Picayune Mike Scott
An up-tempo and upbeat concert documentary that celebrates, rather than mourns, the last hurrah of a pop-culture touchstone.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Corliss
It proves that, at the end, he was still a thriller. Fans and doubters alike can look at the gentle, driven singer-dancer at the center of this up-close document and say admiringly, This was him.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Staff (Not credited)
Captures the singer, dancer, filmmaker, architect, creative genius, and great artist at work as he creates and perfects his final show.
Read Full Review >Empire Ian Freer
This Is It delivers neither the full-on Jackson stage experience or a revealing portrait of his complex mindset. Yet it does not dishonour his memory and you can’t deny the power of the music.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Manohla Dargis
The on-screen results are weird and watchable, by turns frustrating and entertaining, and predictably a little morbid.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin
At best, it angrily demands to be rechristened This Is It! Too often, however, an incredulous This Is It? seems more apt.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Randall Roberts
The problem is that Ortega offers only the public Michael.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Douglas Perry
If you're a big Michael Jackson fan, you'll love This Is It. If you're not, it's like watching two hours of band practice.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Zach Baron
More bonkers Jackson-at-work moments would’ve helped, but mostly we just see the kid from Gary, Indiana, dispensing hugs and God-bless-you's to an awed cast and crew. Watching various dancers and guitarists grin irrepressibly during their one-on-one run-throughs with the man is one of This Is It’s few pleasures.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
Neither a true concert film nor a strict behind-the-scenes documentary, This Is It is, like Jackson himself, a real hybrid.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
Without either the effect of a full concert spectacle, or up close and personal backstage intimacy, This Is It is neither one thing nor the other.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Rick Kisonak
Bottom line: the spectacle he was preparing may well have provided Jackson with the appropriate note on which to close his long, controversial career. This, however, I think even die hard fans will concur, isn't it.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Aidin Vaziri
Those who stuck with the troubled pop icon after his universe shifted from the charts to the tabloids probably will find equal measures of inspiration and heartbreak in the documentary. For everyone else, it's a strange offering.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Chris Richards
For a man who so desperately wanted to show us perfection -- or at least project the illusion of it -- Jackson would never, ever want us to see this film.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
Neither a concert film nor a documentary but a ghoulish “event” offered just in time for Halloween, This is It is sadly -- and reprehensively, if you ask me -- the movie equivalent to the National Enquirer’s infamous post-mortem shot of Elvis Presley.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.6 (out of 10) based on 99 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Line J gave it a9:
Went to see the movie with my 11 year old daughter, we loved it! Michael's genious side was really apparent. He didn't seem sick a all, my girl said. This would have been a really great show. Too bad Michael had to leave so soon. He will always remain the king of pop.
Millie B gave it a10:
A beautiful film that captures the magic of Michael. I loved seeing him smile as his body responded to the beat of the music. Thank you Kenny Ortega and AEG for allowing us to see Michael's preparation for his best-ever show.
S R gave it a10:
Michael Jackson pursued perfection towards his music and it shows. During the rehersals he was perserving his voice and enegy for the big show and even with that it was just amazing to see his talent. He is the king of Pop and his music will live on forever. Regardless of the media, his character really prevails in this movie. He is a man of charisma and depth. It is too bad to know that people who really strive to save the planet and share love to the world would be condemened but he is in a better place now. May God bless his family and loved ones. With much love and respect always!
Mickey M. gave it a10:
Stirring, sad and ultimately uplifting.
sinproducer X gave it a3:
None of you people would've bought tickets to this movie if it wasn't to pay respects. Its just sad people have to die to be seen in a different light.
Cody B. gave it a1:
I feel that if I were to go to this movie, it would be the same as paying money to support the child porn industry. NOT GONNA HAPPEN!
Suzy C gave it a10:
I absolutely loved it!
