This is it

November 2, 2009 —

In case you didn’t notice, Michael Jackson was kind of a big news item all summer. Following his June 25 death, Jackson’s legend enjoyed a resurgence.

In a matter of hours, his 15-year role as the butt of jokes was changed and (almost) everyone suddenly remembered what had made Jackson a musical icon in the first place.

Anyone who paid any attention to the hours of coverage that ensued following his death is wellversed with circumstances surrounding Michael Jackson’s This Is It.

Originally the title of what of was to be his “final curtain call” on the touring circuit, This Is It is instead a two-hour collection of rehearsal footage packaged as a gift for Jackson’s legions of fans.

But this is not a documentary intended to mourn or ponder the loss of the King of Pop.

There are no post-mortem interviews. Interviews of any sort are rare commodities here.

Instead, we get a stage-side seat to witness the collaboration of a concert of grandiose proportions.

And that’s where the magic happens.

The Michael Jackson we get does not at all resemble the frail Jackson we’d become familiar with this decade.

The Michael Jackson who seemed almost incapable of walking into a courtroom, let alone unleashing his trademark Moonwalk is nowhere in this footage.

We see a man with a revitalized sense of purpose; someone who doesn’t only want to glide across the stage but is fully able to do so.

This Is It features several moments where we catch Jackson’s definitive knowledge of not just his own catalog, but entertainment as a whole.

At one point, he halts “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” to tell his bass guitarist precisely how much funkier he needs the song’s unmistakable groove to be.

Though we never see the finished product, we witness the meticulous planning Jackson put into making each song of the concert set list a visual delight.

“Smooth Criminal” opens with a video of Jackson edited into a shootout with Humphrey Bogart. Video effects turn 11 dancers into a backdrop of 11,000 soldiers in “They Don’t Care About Us.”

Watching Jackson own the stage for the better part of two hours is a bittersweet experience. Here’s a person who led a dual existence his entire life.

On stage, there may have never been such an electric entertainer. Away from the stage, we saw a man who never seemed comfortable in his own skin.

To that end, it’s reassuring to watch This Is It, knowing that Jackson spent his final weeks immersed in the one environment where he wasn’t inhibited.

Toward the end of the documentary, Jackson and the crew join hands in a circle. Jackson thanks the crew for their patience, reminding them that the preparation is not without a purpose.

“This is escapism. We’re taking them [the audience] to places they’ve never been,” he tells them.

Jackson’s death may have prevented that from happening as he envisioned. But This Is It still provides a slice of that escapism.