Michael

Biopics about musicians has proven to be very successful at the box office and the highest grossing, live-action film of 2026 so far is Michael as it crossed the $1 billion mark. This was one of the year's most talked about films as it sought to bring Michael Jackson's life the big screen. Would this get the warts-and-all treatment, unafraid to delve into the unsavoury aspects of Jackson's story, or offer a more sanitised approach? This was one of the talking points going in and, alas, this coming from the Jackson family estate means everything would need their approval before the cameras rolled. 

Michael focuses on the early years of its subject's career with him finding his feet in The Jacksons under the controlling eyes of his father, and the subsequent move into becoming Michael Jackson with a series of record breaking hits.

This decision to focus on this stage of his life avoids the controversy that would come later on as director Antoine Fuqua aims for more of a crowd pleasing experience and, in doing so, pleasing the Jackson family estate. But this is nothing new and we have Elvis from 2022, which offered a bright and buzzy adaptation of its subject's life complete with the licenced music and then a year later there was Priscilla, which took a more critical look at Elvis' life without the approved licenced music. One was a financial hit and the other just about made its budget back. 

But is Michael any good? Well, I had a fun time with this film and it will have many a toe tapping to the great songs included but this is something of a hollow experience that runs through many familiar beats. In other words, it feels very safe and doesn't really make an impact but I can't deny Jaafar Jackson is perfect in the leading role as stars as his late uncle. He has the moves and maybe the voice, although that's hard to say given all the tweaking the can be done in post-production, and he really carries the film very well. Colman Domingo is also great as the infamous father but it's all hindered by a screenplay that needed some punching-up. 

What drama there is just doesn't really cut it but any fans of Michael Jackson wills surely get a hit out of this. Apparently sequels are planned and given the film's success, it will be very interesting to see where they go next, and more crucially how far they are willing to go into what came next in Michael's life. So this is still one I can recommend as it provides two hours of easy entertainment but just maybe this could have been more.