WAY too long.

"Given just how much material Kenny Ortega and his editors plowed through to whittle together a two-hour scrapbook and they still could only just barely come up with the presentable material here isn't exactly a vindication." - Eric Henderson

I think this was ultimately more suited as a movie-theater experience rather than an at-home experience. This would have been an epic show, and the grandiosity of the spectacle on film lived up to the master's vision. Unfortunately, I feel as though this film will never live down the notion of "cashing in" on MJ's death, and maybe that's a legit criticism (not so much of the film itself but of its mere existence). Shows yet another side of the charismatic enigma that was Michael Jackson. RIP.

Fairly weak performances, but weak performances from Jackson is still better than 95% of today's pop acts.

A real shame that Michael passed away. He's just going through the motions in this, and makes it look so easy. The concert would've been fantastic.

A pretty decent retelling of the last days of Michael Jackson, the King of Pop. Pretty interesting to see Michael more closely, and not in a courtroom or on the tabloids. Seeing this made me really sad but at the same time really happy to have been around for Michael Jackson's time. As a concert film, it was pretty well made, but It needed more interviews.

This was going to be one hell of a tour.

Concerned first and foremost with a portrayal of Jackson the performer (someone who's pretty great based on the evidence on show), This Is It doesn't adequately comment upon the King of Pop's life and overall output nor the size and scale of his personal and musical influence. What it is, though, is a thoroughly engaging, tragically appetite-whetting showcase of concert rehearsals that confirm Jacko's fierce dedication to his craft and fans. In a way, that's kind of enough.

While certain facets of this are certainly money grabs (only showing it for two weeks, charging about 20% more than a regular ticket for what is in honesty not exactly even a feature film and what certainly did not cost as much to make as a feature film considering that it consists entirely of already shot material - what, exactly, is the justification for this?), MJ shows such talent, such devotion, such love for what he does, such a prescence that it's hard not to be left in awe.

You see Michael Jackson with that energy and passion, and you just feel bad that those shows never happened. Rest in peace, MJ.

i like MJ, but this is not a movie

I wonder; when they did autopsy on MJ if they found the musical director up his ass. What a suck-up. Other than that, an interesting look of MJ behind the scenes. He was truly the king of pop. On a side-note: can somebody make a documentary about these background dancers? It looks likes there's a intriguing hidden world to explore and expose.

Good. This is a behind the scenes look at MJ's rehearsals for his last big tour. It clearly lacks the intimacy and personal touches expected from the man's very last film, more like a last ditch attempt to capitalize off the King of Pop's death. But still, the man could moves even at 50 making this film a great addition to any fans' library and that is the audience its Recommended for.

Expectedly cheesy at times and most people working on the show are way too enthusiastic about... well, everything. Still, offers a glimpse at what probably would have been a spectacular show and Jackson's performances are fine.

This is curtains, much sooner than Jackson meant when he announced a series of comeback concerts cancelled by his sudden death: "This is the final curtain call." The rehearsal footage for that event, intended for Jackson's "personal library," has here been assembled not with journalistic purpose but rather eulogistic, a best-face scenario, essentially a sequence of planned song-and-dance numbers pieced together from different rehearsals, with different costumes within a single number.

This has all the great songs and paints both a comic and touching portrait of Michael as a man and as an artist. Unfortunately not all of the songs are performed 100% because they are rehearsal footage but some of them are simply brilliant. Well worth seeing for any fan of MJ.

Michael had the energy and the passion up to the final days. To see him in rehearsal, obviously holding back a little as not to strain his voice, he still sounded nearly the same as on his records. His voice was perfect and his attitude was awesome. Any 50 year old would be hard pressed to have that kind of stage presence! Makes for an awesome "behind-the-scenes" look at what would have been a magical tour.

no... no no no

You gotta love the commitment and feeling swimming through every inch of film here. If it wasn't THIS, exactly, I'd throw up, but hey this guy is so impressive. You just let that jaw fall in awe - the energy pulsates through every minute. But it gets a bit too long, eventually. I like the narration though, building it up as the show would've been, and the editing is superb. And the female guitarist is both rock'n'roll and extremely fit. Dips.

Video of practice, without any real insight on what was going on in his life or outside if just practicing. Kind of boring.

I think it is impossible to watch this film and not love music. When you don't like music, you just have to fall in love watching this. This is much more than a show, when you see MJ, you realize it's a piece of art you're watching. He was one of the greatest, will always be one of the greatest imo!

Seeing what the show might look like, You only think - He was the true and only one King of pop. It is obvious, that no one else can ever replace him. Michael is dead, so is pop.

MJ truly was a musical genius and this movie shows the behind the scenes of just that. He was a professional and a perfectionist at what he did and he will be forever as such which appropriately named him as the King of Pop. RIP MJ thank you for inspiring myself and millions others.

Not tremendously intimate but it does feel like we're getting past the first of what must have been the many barriers of Michael Jackson. It's clear in what little we see that he's a tremendously emotional (and probably sensitive) person so it's a shame that we don't get to know him better. That may be a strength of the show as well as it gives us the slightest peek of the man without entirely pulling the veil back so that we're still enraptured with the entertainer/icon/mystique.

A chance to glimpse inside the artistic process of a singularly talented performer as he prepares what would have been a remarkable and spectacular return to the stage. No doubt it was compiled from the available footage with a certain degree of haste, but the filmmakers have done a commendable job and succeed in conveying both the actuality of the rehearsals and the potentiality of what was unfortunately if not indeed tragically destined to remain unfulfilled. More footage at close of credits.

Much more than a simple song-and-dance; this film actually shows some of Jackson's creative process too. Way better than I was expecting. It's remarkable that Jackson is 50 years old and can still out-dance the best dancers from around the world who are roughly half his age, while singing an entire repertoire which he mostly wrote himself. Extraordinarily rare talent and creative vision. If this had made it to the stage it probably would have been one of the greatest shows on earth.

Strictly for fans only, but it's great to see the makings of what would have been an amazing show.

Spielberg's failure to engage Jackson on a movie-musical project (Peter Pan or Earth Song or Childhood) deprived the world of a possible Minnelli-level masterpiece.

The feel good movie of the year