This Is It 2009

Amy Nicholson, Boxoffice Magazine: This is his '68 Comeback Special Read more

A.O. Scott, At the Movies: The Michael Jackson we see here is not a self-styled Messiah or a tabloid oddity. He is, instead, what he always was underneath it all: a talented musician, a brilliant dancer, and one of the most gifted entertainers of his time. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Naivete, calculation and all, it looks like it would've been a helluva show, complete with eco-consciousness-raising, an onstage bulldozer and 3-D Thriller footage, newly created to dazzle audiences left high and dry by fate and Jackson's demise. Read more

Tom Charity, CNN.com: Yes, you probably want to see this. Read more

James Rocchi, MSN Movies: It's fascinating, often in ways the people behind it might not have intended. It's shiny and slick and scary and cynical, and it's an epic portrait of all the contradictions in American celebrity culture and one of American culture's biggest celebrities. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: A must-see danceumentary. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: It's an expertly packaged -- brilliantly packaged, considering how quickly the job was done -- phantasmagoria that emphasizes, quite convincingly, the energy that Michael could still draw from whatever was fueling his wraith-thin body. Read more

Ted Fry, Seattle Times: Ultimately, though, This Is It is a shallow homage to the good memories of the King of Pop. Read more

Nathan Rabin, AV Club: At best, it angrily demands to be rechristened This Is It! Too often, however, an incredulous This Is It? seems more apt. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Any evidence of eccentricity, scandal or anything else that marked our perception of Jackson the last few years is missing. In its place is a performer in full command of his gifts. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: Watching Jackson pop, lock, rock, writhe, thrust, and clutch his crotch, even at 50 percent, leaves a feeling of woe: This show really would have been major. Read more

Ann Powers, Los Angeles Times: Differing greatly from the rough, casual mood of many behind-the-scenes pop docs, this one is instead of a piece with Jackson's body of work: dazzling and strange, blurring the line between fantasy and reality. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Michael Jackson's This Is It is heartbreaking, exhilarating, baffling. In other words, it expresses the performer's persona in its purest form. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: This Is It isn't quite extraordinary as non-fiction film goes. Perhaps it's something better: a work of generosity. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: This Is It isn't Michael Jackson at his greatest; it's him preparing to be at his greatest. But just watching that preparation is gift enough. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Would those concerts have returned him to his magical pedestal? We'll never know the answer, of course. But watching this movie, at least we get a feel of it. Read more

Laremy Legel, Film.com: Read more

Randall Roberts, L.A. Weekly: The problem is that Ortega offers only the public Michael. We witness him through the eyes of his employees in a film designed not only to illuminate Jackson's final days but also to set the terms of future conversation about them. Read more

Charlie McCollum, San Jose Mercury News: Perhaps the best way to approach it -- at least for those who are not total Jackson fans -- is to view it as an often-fascinating document on how the sausage (or magic, if you will) is made for a mega-concert tour. Read more

Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: This Is It reveals little about the personal aspects of the deeply troubled man behind the sunglasses -- it naturally deals with none of the darker aspects of Jackson's life -- but it deftly underlines his commitment to showmanship. Read more

Glenn Gamboa, Newsday: In This Is It, Michael Jackson is once again The Thriller, the biggest pop star the world has ever known. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: There's no sign of sickness here, no sense of an artist past his prime. Instead, you see a performer at his peak. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: For fans wondering if you should see the much-touted documentary memorial concert film Michael Jackson's This Is It, rest assured, the late King of Pop delivers. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: I feel fairly confident that a perfectionist like Jackson would never want to be remembered by a shoddy piece of exploitation like This Is It. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: It's a bouncy, engaging, slightly revealing and at times downright moving portrait of Jackson, sweating to his own oldies at 50, prepping a "comeback" he never got to make. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: This Is It is Jackson's moment to shine. For two hours, he's alive and kicking it. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The result is one of the most revealing music documentaries I've seen. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Michael Jackson's perfectionism fails him in This Is It, and we're all the better for it. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: Jackson's mystery deepens, even as it dissolves between our fingers. Read more

Aidin Vaziri, San Francisco Chronicle: Those who stuck with the troubled pop icon after his universe shifted from the charts to the tabloids probably will find equal measures of inspiration and heartbreak in the documentary. For everyone else, it's a strange offering. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: This Is It is one of the best documents of live performance that I've ever seen, a rehearsal diary that's more intimate and immediate than a traditional concert film. Read more

Jon Bream, Minneapolis Star Tribune: This may be as close as we'll ever get to knowing the strange boy-man who was one of the greatest entertainers -- onstage, on record and on video -- of the 20th century. He comes across as ageless and timeless, just like the songs he sings. Read more

Kevin C. Johnson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: It's a fitting celebration of a controversial man's last days, packaged prettily with a bow on top. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Without either the effect of a full concert spectacle, or up close and personal backstage intimacy, This Is It is neither one thing nor the other. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: This is Michael Jackson unvarnished, the wizard behind the curtain and the man-child in the mirror, and it's fascinating to behold. Read more

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: It proves that, at the end, he was still a thriller. Fans and doubters alike can look at the gentle, driven singer-dancer at the center of this up-close document and say admiringly, This was him. Read more

David Jenkins, Time Out: Utterly engaging from beginning to end. Read more

Elysa Gardner, USA Today: If This Is It doesn't miraculously restore the middle-aged Jackson to his past glory, it at least offers glimpses of his bygone greatness, and poignant suggestions of what might have been. Read more

Andrew Barker, Variety: There's an incredible amount to enjoy here, and the star's fans will be in rapture. Though Jackson looks painfully thin at times, his vocal prowess and dancing ability seem to have scarcely ebbed at all in the decade he spent offstage. Read more

Chris Richards, Washington Post: 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 only half-singing, half-dancing through his most rousing hits. Read more