PLOT: The rise of Michael Jackson, from his years in the Jackson 5, through his solo breakthrough with Off the Wall, to becoming a worldwide phenomenon with Thriller.
REVIEW: There are two types of music biopics: the gritty ones that try to tell the truth about their subject (or at least some approximation of it), and the ones that simply “print the legend.” Michael is most definitely the latter, with it sticking so close to the established Jackson family mystique that it makes Bohemian Rhapsody, from the same writer/producer, look comparatively hard-hitting. Yet, the packed theater I saw this in literally had moviegoers sitting in the aisles, and its future as a box office phenomenon seems assured.
