‘This Is It’ Shows Michael Jackson At His Best

Michael Jackson’s death in June left promoter AEG holding the bag, with 50 sold-out shows at London’s O2 Arena canceled.

The film “This Is It,“ pieced together from footage of the concert’s rehearsals, may be primarily an attempt to recoup some of those losses. Fortunately, the finished product is nowhere near as slapdash as that would suggest.

The shows could have been the most lavish, eye-popping concert spectacles ever, with 3-D video, intricate choreography and a full complement of pyrotechnic bells and whistles.

What makes the biggest impression, though, is seeing Jackson in his element, focused and exacting.

Jackson’s verbal skills were somewhat lacking. Just asking that the volume of the music be lowered involves miming a fist in his ear and a terse demand that things be done “with the love, L-O-V-E.“

When he’s seen working directly with his dancers and musicians, though, Jackson emerges as a sharp, driven and demanding artist, one who knows exactly what he wants and will work on a song’s intro or a dance step until it suits him.

Watching him perform on stage during rehearsals, it’s easy to believe that he only felt completely at home there, when all the questions about his personal life stopped and what mattered was his voice and feet.

And who could blame him for wanting to live in that world? The live setting brings new life to seemingly lesser hits such as “Human Nature” and “The Way You Make Me Feel,“ while “Billie Jean” and concert-opener “Wanna Be Startin’ Something” shine like the gems they are.

As for his dancing, Jackson moved the way Michael Jordan played basketball, doing things no one else could do and making them look as natural as breathing. If he had commanded the rest of his life the way he commanded his bones and muscles, he could have been king of much more than pop.

Whether the O2 concerts would have spawned a real comeback or been Jackson’s hurrah will be debated endlessly. Either way, “This Is It” shows, they would have been worthy of a man who called himself king.