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Ortega does a perfectly adequate job of piecing together a spry montage of preparation and process paired with a set list of familiar tunes. Ortega knew Jackson well, and he reminds us that Jackson had a light ease about himself and he was funny, even when he was being incredibly serious about the work. The opening weepy testimonials by the dancers are a laid on a little too thickly at the outset - so much so that I was nervous that a 90 minute cry fest was about to unwind. Fortunately the tears are wiped away soon enough and everyone gets down to business. Technicians, singers, musicians, choreographers and designers are interviewed separately but their messages are all pretty similar. Jackson inspires them to push themselves to their limits and they enjoy the challenge.

There's an eventual emptiness that comes while watching Michael Jackson's This Is It. For one thing, I felt somewhat like a voyeur looking at something I wasn't supposed to be seeing just yet. Jackson was such a perfectionist and has always been portrayed as someone who expected the best and most out of himself and everyone around him. I couldn't help speculating whether or not he would have liked being shown reviewing a number not at full voice or running down a dance number at half energy in a less than sharp and focused manner. I imagine he may have felt that showing him this way was a cheat, not up to his standard and took away from the magic. But a recoup on AEG's investment has to be attempted, if not assumed, I suppose. If everything had come to fore as planned, it seems as though the concert itself would have been spectacular.

After a decade of being in the news for all the wrong reasons it would have been a gratifying moment for Jackson and his fans if he could have pulled this one off. While it's impossible for the film to capture the grand scope of everything the company was trying to achieve in the stark, barren Staples Center, the audience is given the impression that something truly special was being created and oh, what might've been. Jackson was extending himself and planning a comeback worthy of remembrance and not just a tacky attempt to cash in on former glory. This Is It is a final opportunity to see Jackson doing what he knew how to do better than anyone else. Always an enigma, but in the end simply a man trying to put on a show.

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