The new Michael Jackson biopic might be dominating the box office, but it’s certainly not impressing critics.
The film, titled Michael, is currently one of the worst-rated biopics in recent years on review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes.
After debuting with a paltry 27% ‘fresh’ rating on the site (it has since risen to 34%), Michael now lags behind the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown (82%), the Robbie Williams biopic Better Man (89%), and the Oscar-winning Oppenheimer (93%).
Other biopics to significantly outperform Michael with critics include The Apprentice (82%), which details President Donald Trump’s rise to power, the 2023 Priscilla Presley biopic Priscilla (84%), and Ferrari (73%) about Italian racer Enzo Ferrari.
Even 2022’s middling Whitney Houston movie I Wanna Dance with Somebody fared better at 43%, while 2024’s critically-panned Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black is currently rated one percent higher than Michael at 35%.
The only major biographical film that has fared worse with critics is 2024’s Ronald Reagan biopic Reagan, starring Dennis Quaid, which has just 18%.
The new Michael Jackson movie is now the worst-reviewed biopic in years
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Despite the backlash, Michael is shaping up to be a huge hit at the box office.
According to Deadline, the film is on track to open with $150million worldwide.
Domestically, it could be on track to have the highest-opening for a musical biopic in history with around $65million or more.
Directed by Antoine Fuqua, best known for helming The Equalizer trilogy, Michael follows the legendary entertainer, beginning with his time in the Jackson 5 through to the beginning of his solo career.
The late Jackson is portrayed by his real-life nephew, Jaafar Jackson.
Critics have slammed the film for its ‘sanitized’ portrayal of Jackson’s life, with BBC News calling it, ‘a bland and barely competent daytime TV movie’.
Daily Mail’s own Brian Viner was just as harsh, blasting the biopic as ‘simplistic, unchallenging and riddled with egregious omissions’.
One of the biggest criticisms has come from the film’s decision not to include the shocking child abuse allegations that rocked much of Jackson’s career.
Many have been outraged over the film’s decision not to include Jackson’s child abuse scandal in the big budget film
According to Variety, the 127-minute film originally ended with investigators arriving at Jackson’s Neverland Ranch to search for evidence and that much of the film’s third act originally dealt with the fallout from the allegations.
However, the entire child abuse plot was cut from the film after producers realized that there was a clause in a settlement with one of Jackson’s accusers, Jordan Chandler, that barred the depiction or mention of him in any movie.
Filmmakers were then forced to shoot a new ending, which delayed the movie’s release by roughly one year.
Several key figures in Jackson’s life refused to participate in the film, including his sister Janet.
‘She was asked and she kindly declined so you have to respect her wishes,’ LaToya Jackson told reporters at Michael’s Hollywood premiere this week.
Critics have slammed the feel good film for its ‘sanitized’ portrayal of Jackson’s life
Jackson’s daughter Paris has also slammed the film, claiming that she felt that the script was ‘dishonest’.
‘They’re gonna make whatever they’re gonna make. The big reason why I haven’t said anything up until this point is because I know a lot of you guys are gonna be happy with it,’ Paris said last September.
‘The film panders to a very specific section of my dad’s fandom that still lives in a fantasy, and they’re gonna be happy with it,’ she continued.
‘The thing about these biopics is it’s Hollywood. It’s fantasyland — it’s not real.
‘But it’s sold to you as real, and a lot of sugar-coated… the narrative is being controlled. There’s a lot of inaccuracy and there’s a lot of full-blown lies. At the end of the day, that doesn’t really fly with me. I don’t really like dishonesty.’
