This Is It: a Movie Review by Julie N.

From the sensational films from the past up until now, it has become increasingly rare to see celebrities who are popular with our age group contribute their part to the music that they supposedly created. The most common songs appreciated by most teens or preteens in our age group are performed by incredibly lucky and wealthy, somehow famous, teenagers who are basically robot slaves to their producers and directors and everyone who does all the work for them. Of course, there is always an exception, in this case, Michael Jackson. This Is It easily proves that Michael Jackson was truly involved in every aspect of his way to a phenomenal production. The tremendous effort that he had made and all the energy he had put in was impressive yet also very sad; he was so full of enthusiasm, he seemed so full of life, but of course we now know that those were his final days. Michael had his opinion on every note that was played on the piano and every step his shimmering, black dancing shoes took. We know the Michael onstage is confident and strong. Some of us know that Michael appears shy to reporters and some others when the camera is not rolling and music is not playing. This movie shows us the real him. It allows us to witness his actions and opinions every step of the way. If I were to be critical, I would first warn you that it is more of a documentary than a story with a plot. But somehow Jackson manages to give it all the soul that a great story would need. I also thought the beginning was a tad poor, with random people saying irrelevant things about their experiences performing with Jackson, which kind of took away from the fascination that Jackson provided himself. Jackson also weaved a theme of helping and saving the Earth into some songs. With his leather jacket and all the fertile ground that must have been destroyed to build the enormous theater, I thought that was a little over the top. These songs themselves were great, but the message behind them seemed to be delivered poorly. Like all movies, it had its pros and cons, but overall it was very entertaining to see how Jackson improved his performance dramatically and didn't hesitate to make it exactly the way he wanted it. I recommend it easily to all Michael Jackson fans, (like me), and all who enjoy seeing a man, although fifty years of age, work intensely to make his show a great success, and give fans the same vibrant and exciting Michael Jackson that was a child prodigy and a teenage heartthrob, now a world famous and incredibly talented adult. [Editor's note: Even though he's dead.]