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This saccharine, reverential biopic about controversial music legend Michael Jackson is set to be one of the worst films of 2026 \u2013 removing “everything that might be deemed dramatic”.<\/p>\n
I<\/p>\n
It’s bad. It’s bad. It’s really, really bad. The new Michael Jackson biopic, Michael, is produced by several of his relatives and close associates, so no one expected it to be a searing portrait of the controversial star. But it’s still surprising that they’ve made such a bland and barely competent daytime TV movie.<\/p>\n
A chronological plod through Jackson’s time in the Jackson 5, and his subsequent solo success, the film’s narrative stops in the mid-1980s, before he was accused of child abuse<\/a>, and it removes everything from the story that might be deemed contentious. It removes everything that might be deemed dramatic, too.<\/p>\n What’s left is scene after scene of record-industry bigwigs telling Jackson how amazingly talented he is, and of his horrible dad (Colman Domingo, barely recognisable under prosthetic make-up) scuttling over like an evil goblin and snarling: “Remember your family, Michael!”<\/p>\n The man himself is played by his own nephew, Jaafar Jackson, who must have been cast for his physical resemblance to the real person. He certainly wasn’t cast for his ability to express emotion \u2013 not that he’s required to do much of that.<\/p>\n When he’s not on stage or in a recording studio, Jackson smiles as he watches television with his mother (Nia Long), smiles as he visits sick children in hospital, and smiles as he buys animals for his private menagerie. “They’re not my pets, they’re my friends,” he smiles. When he sings Billie Jean, the viewer is left to wonder how this sweet and saintly innocent could possibly have written such an urgent, paranoid and sexually charged song.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Still, Jackson is a fascinatingly multi-layered character compared to the supporting cast. Miles Teller wears a perma-smirk as the staunchly supportive lawyer, John Branca, who, in real life, happens to be one of the film’s producers. And Jackson’s brothers are forgettable \u2013 bizarrely so, considering that some of them are producers of the film too. Jackson’s sister Janet Jackson is written out completely.<\/p>\n Michael<\/p>\n Director: Graham King<\/p>\n Cast: Jaafar Jackson, Colman Domingo, Nia Long, Miles Teller<\/p>\n Run time: 2hr 7m<\/p>\n Release date: 22 April in the UK, 24 April in the US<\/p>\n The main producer of this hagiography is Graham King, who was behind another pop biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody<\/a>. But while that one won four Oscars, Michael is more likely to be a Razzie contender. Other key crew members include its director, Antoine Fuqua, who made Training Day, and its screenwriter, John Logan, whose screenplays include Gladiator and The Aviator \u2013 although you would never guess that anyone outside the Michael Jackson Fan Club was involved. The functional dialogue has all the nuance of a road sign, and the visuals are so lacking in flair that even the reconstructions of Jackson’s groundbreaking videos and concerts are a snooze.<\/p>\n That’s the irony of the whole project. Whatever you think of Jackson, he was driven to create spectacular and innovative entertainment. And yet the film has none of that spirit. It was clearly intended as a tribute to him as a person, but it’s a grievous insult to him as an artist.<\/p>\n \u2605\u2606\u2606\u2606\u2606<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n If you liked this story,\u00a0sign up for The Essential List newsletter<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 a handpicked selection of features, videos and can’t-miss news, delivered to your inbox twice a week.<\/p>\n For more\u00a0Culture\u00a0stories\u00a0from the BBC, follow us on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n ;