67
Metascore
32 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert[An] extraordinary documentary, nothing at all like what I was expecting to see. Here is not a sick and drugged man forcing himself through grueling rehearsals, but a spirit embodied by music. Michael Jackson was something else.
- 90The Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttThe Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttWhat this strange yet strangely beguiling film does is capture one of pop culture's great entertainers in the feverish grips of pure creativity.
- 80VarietyVarietyThere’s an incredible amount to enjoy here, and the star’s fans will be in rapture.
- 75Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsChicago TribuneMichael PhillipsHe could dance brilliantly right up to the end, it’s clear.This Is It may be a court documentary, but as a heavily lawyered portrait of an artist, it’s still pretty compelling.
- 75Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanThis Is It offers a raw and endearing sketch of a genius at work.
- 75Boston GlobeWesley MorrisBoston GlobeWesley MorrisWatching 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.
- 75Philadelphia InquirerCarrie RickeyPhiladelphia InquirerCarrie RickeyMichael Jackson's This Is It looks beyond the reconstructed face and spindly body of the late King of Pop and basks in his meteoric light.
- 75USA TodayUSA TodayIf 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.
- 25New York PostLou LumenickNew York PostLou LumenickNeither a concert film nor a documentary but a ghoulish “event” offered just in time for Halloween, This is It is sadly -- and reprehensively, if you ask me -- the movie equivalent to the National Enquirer’s infamous post-mortem shot of Elvis Presley.
- 25Washington PostWashington PostFor a man who so desperately wanted to show us perfection -- or at least project the illusion of it -- Jackson would never, ever want us to see this film.