Filmed at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles between March and June, This Is It captures the King of Pop preparing for a 50-night run at London's O2 Arena. But after the singer's death shocked the planet on June 25, the concerts' extensive rehearsal footage - intended for Jackson's archive - was quickly cobbled into a feature-length documentary that landed in cinemas this week.
Must the show really go on? At best, This Is It is a mere sketch of what Jackson seemed capable of delivering in London, with the King of Pop half-singing, half-dancing through his most rousing hits.
Stiff and frail, he paces the stage during Wanna Be Starting Something as if mulling things over. At times, he appears almost lost inside himself.
And so it goes for nearly two hours. Jackson emerges from a mechanical spider during Thriller, he rides a cherry picker during Beat It, he hustles through a medley of Jackson 5 tunes including I Want You Back and I'll Be There. As the latter song fades, he cracks a rare smile, basking in phantom adulation.
Dramatic pauses abound during rehearsal (imagine roaring fans here, here and here), but when the singer flicks his wrist, his band best not miss it. Jackson tut-tuts over a few missed cues, but otherwise his direction is fussy and inarticulate.
During The Way You Make Me Feel, he chides his musicians for not letting the intro "simmer". You can almost see the question marks over their heads.
Not the case with Kenny Ortega - his noggin seems to produce only exclamation points of agreement. He's the director of both the concert and the film, and he shepherds Jackson with a true yes-man's adulation. ("I agree, Michael," he declares after Jackson quasi-resolves things with The Way You Make Me Feel.)
Along with Ortega's generous screen time, there's plenty of other inconsequential footage: tech dudes grunting as they move gear; costume designers explaining which sequins are shiniest; a guitarist who says how excited she is to work with Michael Jackson, followed by a second guitarist who says how excited he is to work with Michael Jackson.
And the poor dancers. You'd really hope to see Jackson enjoy a spontaneous moment with these incredible talents as they pop and lock around their idol, but all they get is a hand-holding circle where the singer speaks in fuzzy platitudes about adventure and love and saving the planet.
The film's one undeniably human moment comes during I Just Can't Stop Loving You, with Jackson finally allowing himself to be swept into the music, singing full throttle. Despite the crew's excitement (and ours), he cuts it short: "I have to save my voice."
For a man who so desperately wanted to show us perfection - or at least project the illusion of it - Jackson would never have wanted us to see this film.
