The Journey with Jesus: Film Reviews
Film Reviews by Dan Clendenin
Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009)
It goes without saying that Michael Jackson had few peers as a dancer and singer. This documentary also reveals the depth of his creative imagination, attention to detail in everything from lighting to guitar riffs and costume design, work ethic, sheer passion for performance, and, yes, the nuttiness which required the concert directors to tip-toe, bow, and scrape before his majesty. Jackson's last major concert was in 1997; in March 2009 he announced that he would do fifty concerts in London beginning on July 8, 2009. 800,000 tickets sold out within hours. From March until June 2009 the crew rehearsed, then, just eight days before full dress rehearsals began in London, Jackson died on June 25, 2009. Kenny Ortega, the director of the concert, also directed this documentary of the rehearsals, which was culled from a hundred hours of footage and never intended for public consumption. Watching Jackson rehearse does not give the impression of a sickly man; rather, I was filled with awe, sadness, and inspiration at these final glimpses of a man whose life will always be remembered as both talented and tragic.