By Jackson TOYON

Everybody knows Michael Jackson – and how could you not? His music transcends generations and he was perhaps the most famous musician and entertainer to ever walk this earth. If you took a time machine back to the Paleolithic Age, walked up to the nearest Neanderthal and said Michael’s name, you’d probably get treated to a rough imitation of some of his moves. It’s truly difficult to understate the King of Pop’s influence on culture and the music industry – but in disappointing fashion, director Antoine Fuqua makes a concerted effort to do just that in his new biopic “Michael.”

We begin our story in 1966 in Gary, Indiana as steel worker Joseph Jackson (Colman Domingo) puts his five sons through brutal rehearsals to turn them into the music group known as the Jackson 5. Comforted by his mother (Nia Long), a young Michael (Juliano Valdi) persists in his musical upbringing despite the abusive treatment from his father. In 1968, their performance at the Regal Theater in Chicago is noticed by a representative of Motown Records, at which point the group is scooped up, signed onto a contract and put on a whirlwind tour of performances. During a recording session for their hit song “I Want You Back,” Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr. (Larenz Tate) realized that Michael was particularly special and felt that he had an incredible future ahead of him. 

Cut to 10 years later: In 1978 an older, but still childlike, Michael (Jaafar Jackson) finds himself harboring ideas about wanting to break free from the strings of his father’s control and record a solo album. A strict Joseph allows him to do this during his very limited free time and the results are near immediate – “Off the Wall,” Jackson’s first creative breakthrough of his own, is a massive success. For the rest of the film, we follow Michael as he seeks to forge more of his own path in the music industry as he balances it with the love he still holds for most of his family.

This film is a conflicting experience. On one hand you’re listening to some of the greatest songs to come out of the music industry but on the other, you’re being taken through another instance of the most generic musician biopic formula that continues to plague the 21^st century. The credits indicate that the Jackson family had hands all over this project and you can tell by how the subject is presented – the film has very little interest in providing new information about Michael or an unbiased look at his life – both the good and the bad. It always takes the opportunity to adore Michael, showing how kind and charitable he was to children in hospitals, but very conveniently the film wraps up in 1988 – just before Neverland and all the related allegations.

Jaafar Jackson is the gleaming diamond in the rough patch that is this film. His impressive skill at emulating his uncle’s legendary dance moves and iconic way of speaking and singing prevent the film from being a disaster; even if he can’t fully save it he certainly gets to show his stripes as an enchanting performer. Casting a blood relative to play the part of the original man was absolutely the best decision to make here and one must wonder how different things could have been if they had not. 

Despite Jaafar’s efforts, though, confusing editing choices still muddle and fail to fully deliver on the energy that one would expect from a Michael Jackson concert. 

A casual viewer can have an enjoyable time watching this but bland execution on the filmmaking side of things turns what should have been a biopic into more of a concert film. The film flows like the cliff notes of Michael’s life, simply ticking off the important boxes for the first half of his career – Motown discovery, beloved song, major life event, new album, nose job, famous concert. It’s especially disappointing since it deals with one of the most strange and fascinating musical figures out there.

For those who only want to jam to Jackson’s greatest hits, they’ll probably have a good time. However, those who go into this film hoping to better understand the person behind all the pop and mystique, it won’t be found in “Michael.” 

Rated PG-13.