Michael Jackson's This Is It

When Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009, he'd been working for four months with director Kenny Ortega to mount a dazzling 50-concert extravaganza, set to debut in London's O2 Arena. Fortunately, Ortega had cameras rolling from the dance auditions and early stages of the production through the technical rehearsals with a cast of 70 in Los Angeles. The footage documents Jackson's behind-the-scenes creative process, detailing the performer's passionate perfectionism regarding the dance routines he was developing for his spectacular, career-culminating show. This two-hour film (crafted by a team of editors under Ortega's direction from 120 hours of raw material) reveals Jackson at his prime, in full regalia, looking great and sounding terrific, in a show that could have been headed for Broadway. “I think Michael looked at this as his final curtain call in terms of touring,” recalls Ortega, who was one of Jackson's closest collaborators, having directed the singer's Dangerous and HIStory world tours in the 1990s. A touching and unique artistic memorial that offers one final glimpse of the King of Pop, this is highly recommended. Editor's Choice. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a “Staging the Return” two-part “making-of” featurette (41 min.), a “Memories of Michael” segment (17 min.), “The Gloved One” costume design featurette (15 min.), an “Auditions: Searching for the World's Best Dancers” featurette (10 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray version is a making-of “Smooth Criminal” featurette (11 min.), vignettes for “Smooth Criminal” and “Thriller” (8 min.), and the BD-Live “movieIQ” trivia function. Bottom line: a decent extras package for an excellent musical tribute.] (S. Granger)