Jackson's London shows, scheduled to start in July were already all sold out. He wanted to give-his-all in London, not just to clear his name and pay his debts and help Sony who had been supporting him, but to give the audience who believed in him a remarkable show that they would always remember. He says he wanted a "reason to believe in something and this is it".

So as part of the preparations, Jackson and his team would watch the takes and learn from what they were doing. This was to help them improve their show. No one knew at the time that these takes would become the film This is it. They recorded perhaps 120 hours of documentary footage and these have now been reduced to one hour and 41 minutes to make the show taking the world, not just London, but by storm. As one of his team says, "Push the boundaries - that is what Michael is about".

The man behind the resurrection of This is it, is Kenny Ortega an accomplished cinema personality in his own right, having made the High School Musical series and choreographed Dirty Dancing (1987) with its load of Saturday night fever. Jackson and Ortega had a close relationship during the rehearsals - you'll hear them repeating to each other the - "I love you too" kind of thing. He even sings to Ortega in Spanish-these are shots filmed backstage. "When there is love I'll be there".

In a piece honouring the Jackson Five, "The World's Most Fabulous Group", MJ stops the rehearsal because someone has their fist in his ear. He asks them to "Bring it down a bit ... [because of his] inner ear with love". There is a lot of old Michael Jackson here too, including: Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'; Man in the Mirror.  Other hits are rejuvenated, such as Thriller and Beat It; Billie Jean; Black and White and I'll Be There. There is a great duet with the marvelous Judith Hill, both performing in I Just Can't Stop Loving You. MJ is both trying to warm up his voice and save his voice - at the same time, but he can't help getting carried away by the rehearsals and really letting go. So do musicians like Bashiri Johnson on drums, Michael Bearden on keyboard and Alex Al on bass.

It is great when Jackson dances, which is nearly throughout the rehearsal footage, as he radiates pure energy. He was trying to save his voice for London, but at some moments he lets go and the real Michael Jackson is released. This happens particularly in Human Nature. There is even a message about saving the planet in Earth Song along with a young girl in a rainforest that succumbs to the flames of global warming. Jackson comments: "I love the planet" and repeats a number of messages about imminent disaster and saving the world. African elephants, polar bears and Orcas parade across the screen.

 He suggests they close in silence.  Perhaps the most creative sequence, all short and sweet like a traditional song (the old three-minute limit), is Smooth Criminal - though the rehearsal takes, it seem, much longer. Jackson appears in a movie within the movie coming down the stairs as Rita Hayworth sings in Gilda (1946). She says, "What is he doing here?"  He has to avoid Humphrey Bogart's and Edward G. Robinson's missiles fired at him from within The Big Sleep (1946). He stops the action because he wants the sizzling to be correct. The transition from the exploding marquee to the city requires split second responses on his part-he says he'll feel it. In "Beat It" his duet is with a young blonde and beautiful woman, Orianthi Panagaris, his lead guitarist. After one rehearsal (and many are mixed up compositions to make this feature-very visible as MJ does split second costume changes on the screen) he tells her to rev it up as, "This is your moment to shine". In "Thriller" an underworld graveyard fantasy is presented-at one point he emerges out of a giant spider. In a number of sequences he gets to ride in a Cherry Picker.

There is a scene with eleven dancers become eleven thousand computer-generated soldiers dancing with Michael Jackson to the song, "They Don't Care About Us" before an eroded arch. It can be concluded that this is a concert film without the concert. I won't say anything about what Michael Jackson looks like. I'll leave that for you to decide when you've seen the film. Needless to say, he actually looks great. He can still grab his crotch and slide away - have you ever tried it? It is not so easy to do. He ends with "Heal the world", but you have to stay through the credits to catch that. 

Michael Jackson's - This is it is one hour and 51 minutes long. It is rated PG. It is in American and Spanish with occasional sub-titles. The director is Kenny Ortega. The cinematographers are Sandrine Orabona and Tim Patterson. The music is by Michael Jackson and Michael Bearden. The choreography is by Michael Jackson and Travis Payne. The editors are Don Brochu, Brandon Key and Tim Patterson. The art director is William Budge.

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