gothamite27

I only discovered this film after searching through Wikipedia for information on Michael Jackson (which is most certainly what millions of others are doing, in the wake of his highly publicized death).

The film is an exploration, not of Michael Joseph Jackson's life, but of his fame; particularly following the Earth-shattering success of 'Thriller'. It mostly skims over these years (but then, just about everything in the film feels 'skimmed over'), but there are some interesting developments, such as the beginning of Michael's supposed troubles with the vitiligo disease as well as the infamous Pepsi Cola accident, where he was badly burned (this serves as a segue into Jackson's near-obsession with cosmetic surgery).

The majority of this biopic is based in the 1990s and portrays in brief, the countless occasions where the media clashed with Michael Jackson, particularly the child-abuse allegations of 1993. His friendship with Liz Taylor is decently established (although the actress is sub-par) and throughout the film, Michael's kinship with someone by the name of 'Bobby' (who I can only assume is his bodyguard or housekeeper or something) is probably the highlight of the film (along with something that I shall mention later on in the review). Michael's relationships with Lisa Marie Presley and Deborah Rowe, the two wives he had in the 90s are explored with the former being an impressive recount (if slightly historically inaccurate, if accounts from Presley herself are to be believed) and the latter being a pathetic footnote. The film concludes with Michael being accused once more of child abuse, and choosing to fight the charges (rather than trying to avoid them, as he did in 1993).

This is not a very well-made biopic. It is not 'Walk the Line' or 'Ray' and I would hesitate to say that it is even as good as TV movie-biopics such as 'The David Cassidy Story'. It employs very 'hip' directorial methods, that one would expect from CSI and other such programming. The acting ranges from above-average (Flex Alexander is quite good) to absolutely dire (the actress who played Janet). The most noteworthy criticism is the make-up, which was uncomfortably off throughout the film. The film makes some efforts to show Jackson's transition from the fresh-faced, very black young man of 'Thriller' to the tanned (but still obviously African American) 27-year-old of the 'Bad' era to the ghost-faced Jackson of the 1990s. For some reason, the film awkwardly chooses to keep Flex Alexander in the 'Bad'-era makeup throughout most of the second act of the film, throughout years where Jackson was very obviously not black (such as his marriage to Presley, for example). This takes viewers who are even only slightly somewhat familiar with the man's history out of the experience. It makes little sense when Flex Alexander goes from being a black man with some chalk lightly pasted on his face to being a very, very white man with features that have been utterly, surgically overhauled.

In all honesty however, the film has some very interesting ideas about Jackson and its ending is almost a saving grace in how it ties together two of the most recurring themes of the film: Michael's fear of failure (in the eyes of his father and the media) and his undying love and respect for his fans, the people who would never leave him. It is clear that the ending was probably the one very clear idea the writers and director had while making this very obviously rushed, low-budget film and it stands out as a noteworthy highlight for a fairly mediocre film.

In conclusion, fans of Jackson could do worse than to watch this biopic, particularly those who mourn his passing. Taken with a pinch of salt, this is a fairly decent film with interesting ideas.

I (like most other people my own age) grew up with the original Power Rangers series and lost interest soon after Zeo, when Tommy and the rest of them left. I came back into it a few times over the years, when my younger brothers got into it as all kids do, but overall, it faded into my childhood and I always dismissed it as something that couldn't truly be enjoyed by someone older than 5 years old.

I found out recently that Jason David Frank (the legendary green, white and red Ranger from the first five seasons) returned as the 'mentor' character in Power Rangers: Dino Thunder. I decided to check out an episode, purely for the entertainment value of getting to see my old favourite get back into action. Funnily enough, I found myself enjoying it more than I thought I would and between downloads and DVDs, I ended up acquiring nearly a third of the whole series.

My thoughts? Well, it's still pretty silly. All of the exaggerated motions, the over-acting and the campiness one would expect from a Power Rangers show is all present, but for some reason it's toned down immensely. The main villain Mesogog, is dead-serious and so is his henchman Zeltrax. Neither of these characters are ever viewed as comic relief. Also, the Rangers are more three-dimensional than ever before. Instead of being a group of pure, wholesome best friends that constantly get straight As, the three main Rangers are a group of misfits: the jock, the alternative singer and the neurotic geek. The show actually shows them develop into true friends and better people over the course of thirty or so episodes, something that would be unheard of in the one-dimensionality of earlier series'.

The return of Tommy Oliver to the Power Rangers universe is just the icing on the cake. If this show wasn't as good as it was, it wouldn't have worked as well, but luckily, this was the perfect show to have Tommy come back to guide a new team. Tommy's character is slightly darker than the wholesome, gushy character we saw years ago. Tommy is well-versed in the kind of trials and tribulations that Power Rangers face, so he acts as a teacher to the younger, newer Rangers. Then of course, to please the fans, Tommy gets his own morpher and Powers early on in the series and becomes the Black Ranger (as cool as he's ever been).

The acting is somewhat above-par from what you'd usually expect from a Power Rangers show, but that's not to say that it's in any way decent. Frank plays the part he played for years well enough, Emma Lahana is fine as the spunky chick and Kevin Duhaney makes a decent nerd. Unfortunately, James Napier isn't exactly stellar as Connor McKnight and the Australian actor's American accent is horrible. It's as if he watched a western once, years ago, and based his accent off that. Throughout the series, evidence of his true heritage pops out blatantly in mid-speech, to the point where one wonders why he even bothers trying with the accent.

Overall, this series is a lot of fun and isn't nearly as garish and offensive as other Power Ranger incarnations. Definitely one for all the family to watch.