Michael Jackson’s This Is It IMAX review wrap-up

Here are the latest reviews for the IMAX version of Michael Jackson’s This Is It. We will continue to add to this post as more reviews come in.

The Huffington Post: “[S]ince much of the footage is the standard video quality, the core appeal of the IMAX format is getting a chance to really listen to the actual music that inspired a generation of young artists.” Link >>

US Magazine: “Culled together from footage shot during rehearsals last spring for Michael Jackson’s 50-date London tour, this part documentary, part concert film — which opens today on 3,800 screens (including several IMAX locations) — shows an agile, passionate and humor-filled entertainer who displays no hints of his coming death on June 25.” Link >>

Telegraph: “The most spectacular sequence of all, with the famous graveyard scene from the Thriller video reshot in 3D and broadcast on a giant screen as a backdrop to Jackson’s performance.” Link >>

CBC Toronto: “Fans will be the most likely to marvel in the performance, as opposed to non-fans, who may be distracted by watching Jackson in the months and weeks that proceeded his death.” Link >>

Past the Popcorn: “Watching the King of Pop go at it, it’s hard to imagine that the man would be dead before the concert he was rehearsing ever came to fruition.” Link >>

The Cleveland Plain Dealer: “Michael Jackson’s “This is It,” the rehearsal footage turned film, is a high-energy jolt that asks the musical question: When’s the last time a movie made you want to stand up and dance?” Link >>

San Francisco Indie Movie Examiner: “The film departs from typical documentaries, effectively serving as an unfiltered, essentially cinema verite view of Mr. Jackson at work on stage where he was most comfortable.” Link >>

Twitch: “The movie has more in common technically with other music-oriented archival footage presentations such as “Imagine: John Lennon” than legitimate concert films such as “The Last Waltz” or “Stop Making Sense”. (All three are good company, nonetheless.)” Link >>

Sarasota Herald-Tribune: “It’s a bracing and thrilling celebration of Jackson’s remarkable talent.” Link >>

New York Daily News: “While IMAX digital-mastering always offers eye-popping picture quality and sound that makes you feel immersed in the movie’s aural world, these enhancements are especially valuable in a concert film – which much of “This Is It” is.” Link >>

BET.com: “To go see the king of pop on anything but an IMAX screen would be borderline blasphemous. The standard theater just wouldn’t cut it. You gotta experience that IMAX surround sound, the immense screen.” Link >>

The Los Angeles Times: “[T]he 12,000-watt IMAX sound system helped considerably to replicate the visceral impact of the sound he and his band wanted to put across in concert.” Link >>

Z District: “This movie isn’t a normal movie, it’s a sort of behind the scenes to how Michael Jackson is during his performances, I always beleived [sic] he was an artist, but after this movie he is a true artist.” Link >>

Altsounds: “It’s clear from the introductory ‘Wanna Be Starting Something’ that Michael is unexpectedly in great shape, and the announcement in London that this will be IT, the final curtain call, sounds kind of weird when you see that his dancing and singing are as flawless as always.” Link >>

San Diego Reader: “One is left primarily with the impression of the amount of work that went into these preparations, and that thanks to the film did not go completely to waste.” Link >>

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