Only one name comes to mind when people hear the words “King of Pop”: Michael Jackson.
Michael Joseph Jackson, the man, the myth, the legend. Everyone knows him, and everyone loves him. And now, everyone can watch his story on the big screen with the new Michael Jackson biopic, “Michael”, which premiered on April 24, 2026.
With a 2-hour-long film that showed the audience Michael’s journey from the very start of The Jackson 5 all the way up to The Bad Tour, it was like looking through a new lens. The viewers are shown moments that happened behind the scenes of all the fame and fortune, and learn how Michael became the star that he is known as today.
I watched the movie on opening day at the Movie Tavern in Trexlertown, PA. I attended the 10:30am and 7:30pm showings. The first showing in the morning was relatively empty due to it being so early in the morning, but the evening showing was almost entirely packed and filled with fans, with the energy through the roof.
There were people wearing shirts with his face on them and even people wearing his signature glove. It felt like I was attending a concert of his instead of a movie. As someone who has been a huge fan of Michael since they were 5 years old, seeing everyone excited for the movie gave me a very nice feeling.
Now, to talk about the biopic itself without spoiling it for anyone wanting to go watch it, it was definitely worth the wait. The film was supposed to come out in 2025, but due to some issues with a part of the film that needed to be taken out due to legal reasons, the film was pushed back to this year. Fans waited a long time for this film to be released, and they were not disappointed.
The person who plays Michael in the film is his nephew Jaafar Jackson. This film is his acting debut, and as an audience member and a fan who is very picky when it comes to Michael impersonators, he did an excellent job portraying his uncle. He really took the heart and soul of Michael and poured it all into this film. It really felt like I was there watching Michael on the screen.
In an interview done before the movie was released, Jaafar stated that he watched every music video and every interview he could find with Michael and studied them for hours on end until he was able to get every move and every mannerism as accurate as he possibly could. After watching the film twice, you can really see the work that was put into this, and I think that’s what makes this film so special.
However, saying the film was 100% accurate would be a lie. Some parts of the film aren’t accurate to real life. For example, the fact that a few of the Jackson siblings were missing makes me scratch my head a little. I understand that the rest of his siblings, except for Janet, didn’t really make an impact on the public, but it still would’ve been nice to see them.
Another thing with the film that bugged me a little was the fact that they used CGI for some of the animals that were in the movie. Michael loved his animals and had many animals that belonged in a zoo or the wild rather than in a mansion in California, and I’m glad they made sure to put that in the film; however, they didn’t use real animals.
Michael’s favorite animal that he had was a monkey named Bubbles, and they added Bubbles into the movie, but using CGI. The CGI itself looked horrendous, and you could tell that it wasn’t a real monkey, which really bothered me. I understand not wanting to use real animals to avoid anything having to do with animal abuse and such, but I believe that Michael would’ve wanted the use of real animals in the film due to how much he loved them, as long as they were treated correctly, of course.
All in all, if we put aside the things from the film I didn’t really like, the rest of the film was a masterpiece in my eyes. It did Michael justice and made it feel like he was here with us again, which is a special feeling that I held onto even when I left the theater.
If you haven’t watched the film, I would absolutely go do so. It is worth the money, and I promise you will have a good time. If the storyline doesn’t get you interested, I know the singing and dancing will. So go and buy that ticket, and let the magic take you to a world full of music, love, and Michael Jackson.
