This Is It

The movie, shaped with love and affection by director-choreographer
Kenny Ortega, unintentionally resembles another concert documentary
involving a king: Elvis Presley’s behind-the-scenes Vegas comeback
vehicle Elvis: That’s the Way It Is (1970). There was certainly
a do-or-die element that led Jackson, plagued by years of tabloid
strife and money woes, to consider hitting the road for a career
resuscitation as well as a hefty payday. 

The details that emerge in this film about the tour’s elaborate
production values suggest that the concert itself would have been a
senses-overloaded multimedia knockout, especially with
three-dimensional movie add-ons such as a save-the-rainforest segment
(some of this was recently telecast during the Grammys) and a
comin-at-ya remake of the Jackson music video for “Thriller,” plus a
film-noir homage to “Smooth Criminal” with Jackson interacting to old
clips featuring Rita Hayworth and Humphrey Bogart. Since Jackson was
previously mentored by Hollywood heavyweights such as Martin Scorsese
(the “Bad” video) and Francis Ford Coppola (the Captain EO 3-D
short that occasionally screens at Disney theme parks), there’s a hint
that the superstar might have likewise translated this show to the
cinematic medium.

Yet beyond the list of never-will-bes that will forever be attached
to the Neverland ranch owner, Jackson’s idea to allow video cameras to
capture the rehearsals at Los Angeles’ Staples Center, supposedly for
his own private use, turns out to be a boon for his loyalists. Within
the venue’s cavernous confines, only a handful of photographers, crew
members, dancers and technicians are on hand to witness the man and his
music in a truly private show, as a sense of relaxed intimacy develops
as the movie progresses. 

There’s a neat give-and-take during Jackson’s duet with backup
singer Judith Hill on “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You,” along with some
encouragement for Orianthi Panagaris as she performs the blistering
guitar riff for “Black or White” (“It’s your time to shine,” coos MJ,
“we’ll be right with you.”). Ortega’s selection of video footage also
emphasizes lots of dance moves, thank goodness, without the
hyper-editing that accompanies most music videos. The sideline tributes
from concert personnel are expected (This Is It opens with clips
of awestruck, teary-eyed audition dancers), yet whenever the movie gets
up-close and personal as it focuses on taskmaster Jackson’s intense
attempts to wrest more nuances from his greatest hits repertoire,
die-hard fans will be in seventh heaven along with their idol, almost
as if they’re sharing the forbidden fruits of a bootleg recording. 

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment offers This Is It in a
letterboxed (1.78:1 ratio) presentation, with the high-definition video
images looking serviceably crisp, and the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack
providing plenty of aural punch. More gushing hosannas are saved in the
disc’s extras: the 41-minute making-of mini-documentary “Staging the
Return,” the 15-minute “The Gloved One” (with details on the crystal
appliques that adorned some of Jackson’s costumes), the 16-minute
self-explanatory “Memories of Michael,” and the 10-minute “Auditions:
Searching for the World’s Best Dancers,” with its allusions to A Chorus Line.