Jackson's leadership, hard work shine in documentary

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Original 3-D film segments, synchronized pyrotechnics, an elaborate, ever-changing set and a platform set to fly high above the crowd prove Michael Jackson’s vision of entertainment was far from outdated.

Even at 50 years old, Jackson’s dance seems just as effortless as it did during the HIStory world tour in the mid-90s.

“This Is It” director Kenny Ortega, who also co-designed and was set to direct the This Is It concert, allows the footage to speak for itself; he doesn’t insert many overly sentimental interviews from third parties after the opening scene, but instead focuses on the complete control Jackson had as a performer.

Then we move on to the rehearsal footage. The lights flare and in steps Jackson with “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” an energetic and logical lead for the concert.

He performs all of the classics, such as “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Thriller” and “Black or White,” and while he repeatedly confesses, “I’m trying to save my voice (for the show),” his voice soars on “Human Nature” and “I’ll Be There.”

The ease of Jackson’s craft is most vividly shown in a sequence depicting the King of Pop casually chewing gum while he orchestrates a routine with his dancers for a computerized film segment to “They Don’t Really Care About Us.”

Jackson was going for grandiose. He had performed these songs many times before, but “This Is It” added fresh takes on each one. For instance, Jackson was digitally inserted alongside screen legends Rita Hayworth and Humphrey Bogart in “Gilda” and “The Big Sleep” as an introduction to “Smooth Criminal.”

“This Is It” never shows Jackson as the pedophilic lunatic he’s so often been perceived as — in fact, Jackson seems normal.

His passion for music and performance shatters any focus on his personal life, as illuminated by a scene in which he works with musical director and keyboardist Michael Bearden on the introduction of “The Way You Make Me Feel.”

“You’re not letting it simmer,” he sternly but softly tells Bearden, who looks content basking in the glow of Jackson’s presence.

He seems grounded, aware of the world around him — he even has an underlying theme with the show: ecological preservation.

Sure, it’s always been a little corny watching MJ play air guitar next to a random Slash stand-in during “Black or White” and “Beat It,” but it’s more than made up for when Jackson invites the crowd — in this case, technicians and tour-team members — to sway their hands over their heads to “I’ll Be There.”

Everybody has an opinion on the man, but as the film ends with “Man in the Mirror,” it’s hard to deny the gifts he shared — the gifts Ortega merely displays. After all, it is and always will be Michael Jackson’s “This Is It.”

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