This Is It
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: October 28, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
67
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
9
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
[An] extraordinary documentary, nothing at all like what I was expecting to see. Here is not a sick and drugged man forcing himself through grueling rehearsals, but a spirit embodied by music. Michael Jackson was something else. Read full review
91
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Heartbreaking, exhilarating, baffling. In other words, it expresses the performer's persona in its purest form. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
What this strange yet strangely beguiling film does is capture one of pop culture's great entertainers in the feverish grips of pure creativity. Read full review
90
SlateDana Stevens
One of the best documents of live performance that I've ever seen, a rehearsal diary that's more intimate and immediate than a traditional concert film. Read full review
90
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
A spectacular record of rehearsals for a show that wasn't to be. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Watching his struggle is illuminating, unnerving and unforgettable. Read full review
80
VarietyAndrew Barker
There’s an incredible amount to enjoy here, and the star’s fans will be in rapture. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesAnn Powers
Differing greatly from the rough, casual mood of many behind-the-scenes pop docs, this one is instead of a piece with Jackson's body of work: dazzling and strange, blurring the line between fantasy and reality. Read full review
80
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Watching it, I saw him from some new angles -- painful as well as celebratory -- and I realized that this isn't it: This, as with Elvis' posthumous career, is only the beginning. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
The late King of Pop delivers. Read full review
80
Time OutJoshua Rothkopf
Michael Jackson was obviously shooting for the moon right before his death, as you can tell from these stunning bits of concert spectacle. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
He could dance brilliantly right up to the end, it’s clear.This Is It may be a court documentary, but as a heavily lawyered portrait of an artist, it’s still pretty compelling. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
This Is It offers a raw and endearing sketch of a genius at work. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Watching Jackson pop, lock, rock, writhe, thrust, and clutch his crotch, even at 50 percent, leaves a feeling of woe: This show really would have been major. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Michael Jackson's This Is It looks beyond the reconstructed face and spindly body of the late King of Pop and basks in his meteoric light. Read full review
75
USA TodayElysa Gardner
If This Is It doesn't miraculously restore the middle-aged Jackson to his past glory, it at least offers glimpses of his bygone greatness, and poignant suggestions of what might have been. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Reveals little about the personal aspects of the deeply troubled man behind the sunglasses -- it naturally deals with none of the darker aspects of Jackson's life -- but it deftly underlines his commitment to showmanship. Read full review
75
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike Scott
An up-tempo and upbeat concert documentary that celebrates, rather than mourns, the last hurrah of a pop-culture touchstone. Read full review
70
TimeRichard Corliss
It proves that, at the end, he was still a thriller. Fans and doubters alike can look at the gentle, driven singer-dancer at the center of this up-close document and say admiringly, This was him. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderStaff (Not credited)
Captures the singer, dancer, filmmaker, architect, creative genius, and great artist at work as he creates and perfects his final show. Read full review
60
EmpireIan Freer
This Is It delivers neither the full-on Jackson stage experience or a revealing portrait of his complex mindset. Yet it does not dishonour his memory and you can’t deny the power of the music. Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
The on-screen results are weird and watchable, by turns frustrating and entertaining, and predictably a little morbid. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
At best, it angrily demands to be rechristened This Is It! Too often, however, an incredulous This Is It? seems more apt. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Without either the effect of a full concert spectacle, or up close and personal backstage intimacy, This Is It is neither one thing nor the other. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Neither a true concert film nor a strict behind-the-scenes documentary, This Is It is, like Jackson himself, a real hybrid. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverZach Baron
More bonkers Jackson-at-work moments would’ve helped, but mostly we just see the kid from Gary, Indiana, dispensing hugs and God-bless-you's to an awed cast and crew. Watching various dancers and guitarists grin irrepressibly during their one-on-one run-throughs with the man is one of This Is It’s few pleasures. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyRandall Roberts
The problem is that Ortega offers only the public Michael. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianDouglas Perry
If you're a big Michael Jackson fan, you'll love This Is It. If you're not, it's like watching two hours of band practice. Read full review
40
Film ThreatRick Kisonak
Bottom line: the spectacle he was preparing may well have provided Jackson with the appropriate note on which to close his long, controversial career. This, however, I think even die hard fans will concur, isn't it. Read full review
25
New York PostLou Lumenick
Neither a concert film nor a documentary but a ghoulish “event” offered just in time for Halloween, This is It is sadly -- and reprehensively, if you ask me -- the movie equivalent to the National Enquirer’s infamous post-mortem shot of Elvis Presley. Read full review
25
Washington PostChris Richards
For a man who so desperately wanted to show us perfection -- or at least project the illusion of it -- Jackson would never, ever want us to see this film. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleAidin Vaziri
Those who stuck with the troubled pop icon after his universe shifted from the charts to the tabloids probably will find equal measures of inspiration and heartbreak in the documentary. For everyone else, it's a strange offering. Read full review
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