If the point of making the Michael Jackson biopic, Michael, was to make money, then mission accomplished. If it were to make an honest portrait of a complicated human being, then the project failed. Some of that was beyond the control of director Antoine Fuqua.
Among the various people who have sued the Jackson or the Jackson estate (Michael Jackson died in 2009), at least one settled out of court, and that involved the situation that neither the person nor Jackson or his estate could be related to anything commercial that was made that included what Jackson was accused of.
This is in no way saying what the musical artist did or didn't do happened, only that he was accused of acts involving minors and that some of those accusations did not go to court because they were already settled.
Michael Jackson biopic breaks records despite terrible reviews
Because of that, many of the professional reviews of the film have been harsh. On Rotten Tomatoes, Michael has a score of 38. Those who have seen the movie, and are far more likely to be fans of Jackson's music, gave the project a score of 97. That is likely true because the film focuses almost solely on Jackson's professional life and not his personal one.
Wendy Ide of The Observer writes, "But for all its laziness and evasiveness, the film does capture what, for many, matters most about Michael Jackson: the music, his electrifying stage presence, his unusually raw and open-hearted embrace of his fans."
Michael Ward of Should I See It was more harsh and succinct, "Spectacle sells better than honesty."
The movie did make $97 million in the United States and $217 million globally in its opening weekend, the most ever for a music biography. That might have more to do with the power of Jackson than the merits of the film. A biopic about the icon was likely to draw no matter what.
Few artists, if any, could still draw long after their death for a film about them that they aren't in. Such is the power of the cult of personality. Again, this isn't to say you shouldn't see the film. If you are a fan, you will. If you have no interest in the music, you won't. That's the point of how the movie was created in the first place.
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