Mickey's Magical Christmas
I’m not going to do my standard review for this movie, mainly because this is a concert/documentary film rather than a regular “fiction” movie.
In March 2009, Michael Jackson announced to the world that he was going to do one final set of concerts: “This Is It”, only at the O2 Arena in London. Only a few weeks before the first show, he died of cardiac arrest. This movie is the edited form of both concert preparation, behind the scenes, and the rehearsals of the concert, which had been videotaped for Michael’s personal library. So in a way, this is the best way that anyone outside the show staff could “see” his final concert due to his untimely passing.
Putting his legal troubles aside, you can not deny that Michael Jackson is possibly the most talented entertainer to grace human history. His singing, dancing and love of performing can be seen - even in these rehearsals. The world did lose someone spectacular the day he died. And this movie, in a way, is his wake (more on that later) - a celebration of his career.
Did he look sickly? No. He was performing extraordinarily well for an entertainer over 50 who has been playing to sellout crowds for over 40 years. He still has it: voice, music, and dancing. You can see his talent, and even some of the thoughts behind it by seeing the behind the scenes - how he works with the musicians to get the live performances timed just right - to his liking.
This Is It runs the gamut of Michael’s music. From the Jackson 5 to a few new songs, he includes favorites like Thriller, Beat It, and Smooth Criminal. All three of those combine his original dancing in the music videos with fresh new looks at the rest: the background, or what Michael loved to do with his music videos - minifilms. The movie includes behind the scenes of the filming of the new short films for the concert on the Smooth Criminal song set.
If you’re not a fan of Michael Jackson, but you’ve liked at least one of his songs from his past, you should still go out and see this movie. Maybe you’ll get a new perspective on which to judge his career from. At the least, I’ll bet that the song you like of his is in this movie.
If you are a fan of Michael Jackson, you’ve probably already seen this movie. If you haven’t, go see it in the theatre. While the home theatre release is going to be off the charts in terms of sales, I think this is one of those films you must see in the theatre, if not to see him on the really big screen. One last time.
Having a seven-year-old daughter and a Blu-ray player, I am at ground-zero for the target market for this Disney release. The Disney straight-to-video products are a mixed bag in terms of quality. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any that are eye-bleatingly bad; but as you would expect, the straight-to-video stuff pretty much falls short of the theatrical releases.
Thinker bell is an interesting character in Peter Pan. Besides her being a purely good and kind fairy, she can also be angry and vindictive when the mood strikes her. In the original version of the film, she had no dialog (making sounds as a bell). In Lost Treasure though, her temper gets the better of her; and she breaks a precious magic item which is necessary for the creation of autumn. This necessitates a quest to make things right and involves threatened friendships -- thus, the value-of.
The Blu-ray comes with lots of extras -- including Backstage Disney (an actual look at the fairy-hollow created in the context of the show), "bloopers" which, of course, since they are animated, are not -- but are amusing for kids (body-functions). Deleted scenes (which are real scenes), and a bonus short that is not that special.
On the whole, if you are looking for a Blu-Ray for kids, this meets all of the criteria. What it could lack in edge, it makes up for in being what Disney excels at -- so much so that you would probably know if it is 's for you – even without a review!
--
Roger Logenbach
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