When I saw the first teaser trailer for Michael late last year, I was super excited! Like many people who grew up in the 80s, when I did, I am a massive Michael Jackson fan. It is honestly impossible to explain to someone who was not alive during the time MJ was the biggest star on the planet just how huge he was! Being a world-famous celebrity in the 80s and 90s was a completely different thing from what it is now.
Where to Watch Michael
Michael was released on April 24, 2026. You can expect to be able to stream the film from Starz or Amazon Prime Video some time later.
The Movie Review
Yes, the likes of Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran are famous and popular with lots of fans, but they really are nothing compared to what Michael Jackson was. Anyway, I got more and more excited for this movie, and then I saw a video on YouTube that was previewing the biggest movies coming in April and May of 2026, and I had a bit of a shocking realization about Michael.
It was just a throwaway line; the person making the video said something like, “Michael will have people dancing and singing in the aisles,” and it hit me! Oh my god, this guy is right, seeing this movie opening weekend or even opening week would be a freaking nightmare with all the social media addicts trying to sing and dance for likes! I was proven right as there were tons of videos of people singing and dancing while in the movie theatre, trying to make it all about them! I saw a video of one guy dressed like MJ dancing in front of the screen! Sure, he looked and moved great, and it was cool, but do it before the movie or after it, not while people are trying to actually watch it!
Jaffar Jackson as Michael Jackson
I hate social media and the selfish, self-centered attention seekers it has spawned, and that is why I left it a couple of weeks before I went to see Michael, as I felt the social media crowd would have moved onto the next thing by then, and I was right. Let me start with the obvious: his nephew, Jaffar Jackson, is phenomenal in this role. There are moments you truly believe that this is Michael Jackson. Honestly, this guy deserves a ton of awards for his role here.
Colman Domingo Delivers an Incredible Performance
Also, Colman Domingo plays his father Joe, and he is about as amazing in this role as you would expect. Ever since I saw him in Fear the Walking Dead, I have pretty much checked out anything that Colman Domingo is in. I was surprised at how far it went with the troubled and, honestly, brutal relationship between Joe and Michael. Michael, dealing with these issues, was really the thread that ran through the movie.
A Surface-Level but Entertaining Michael Jackson Biopic
What we have here is a very surface-level kind of biopic. I do not necessarily mean that in a derogatory way, as I said, I am a massive fan, but this was pretty much all the stuff that a fan would already know. At the end of the day, they only had so much time, and there was a whole controversy about the third act, and that is why the movie ends where it does. We basically have his childhood with the Jackson 5, his solo career, Thriller, and it then comes to a close with Bad.
Michael Jackson Dangerous Era Memories
While I grew up in the 80s, for me, it was the early 90s Dangerous album that I remember the most, even though that is not my favorite Michael Jackson album. Dangerous was the first album I remember there being just a ton of hype around, and I had never seen an album come out that seemed as big a deal as this one. I think I was just the right age to be able to take it all in. To be fair, I get why they ended the movie where they did. Ending it with Bad made more sense than ending it in the early 90s when those accusations started.
Thriller, Beat It, and Bad Steal the Show
You pretty much get all of the Michael Jackson greatest hits from this time; the stuff that you would expect to be included is all here. Seeing the likes of Thriller and Beat It being made was great stuff, and there is a musical scene where he performs Bad, and I would put it up there as the greatest musical performance scene that I have ever seen in a music biopic. Nope, scratch that, I am saying it is the best one I have ever seen.
Final Thoughts on Michael
At the end of the day, if you are a fan of Michael Jackson, this is an amazing walk down memory lane, and it will 100 percent tug at those nostalgia strings. Do I wish that it went into more detail about certain things? Yes, I do, but there is no denying that I had the biggest goofiest smile on my face by the time I came out of the theatre. If there were not so many other movies coming out in the coming weeks, I would go and see this again. This will be a day one purchase once the 4K comes out! Also, this is a bit of a dream, but I would love it if someone like Limited Run Games could do a Moonwalker video game collection!
