Michael Jackson's GHOSTS | REVIEW

The term 'rise & fall' is used loosely these days. It seems Britney Spears had her rise and eventual fall. But her 'fall' pales in comparison to that of Michael Jackson's. The once mighty King Of Pop, adored by millions for his uncanny sense of music, has now been reduced to a has-been because of certain 'mistakes' which he may or may not have committed. Sad, isn't it? The first-ever cassette that I purchased when I was a little kid was Jackson's Dangerous, which turned me into a long-time fan who eventually picked up his movies on VHS and other newer albums were soon added to my collection. And yes, I tend to ignore the man behind the superstar and I still say his music is amazing. And hey, all you heavymetal headbangers, I'm sure you have those Backstreet Boys albums lying in a box somewhere so don't give me the 'cringe'. I love heavymetal now, yes, but there was a time when Michael Jackson was king of all music. Enough about me, on to the review.

I remember watching Michael Jackson's GHOSTS nearly a decade ago and I loved it mainly because I was a fan. I watched it again recently and found that it's one of the corniest movies ever, similar to Moonwalker. GHOSTS is basically a very long music video, or rather, a bunch of music videos put together as a 40-minute movie. GHOSTS is the story of a Maestro (Michael Jackson) with supernatural powers who is being chased out of a small town by its mayor. The townspeople are also enraged that the Maestro is so fond of their children and invites them to his mansion on a regular basis. The townsfolk are invited inside and 'treated' to a series of dance routines by the Maestro and his 'family' of ghouls. All the featured songs were taken off Jackson's HIStory and Blood On The Dance Floor albums. The movie is also the film debut of Mos Def.

GHOSTS is basically Thriller without the babe. Instead of bringing up the dead to haunt his girlfriend, Jackson brings up the dead to haunt an angry mob that want to get rid of him and his beloved spookies. I'm not sure what Jackson's fascination is with all things scary, but the guy seems to have a passion for it. Also, GHOSTS is modernized in the sense that there's not much of the zip-pulling, the chest rubbing, the touching, the erotic moans etc. It's more of a modern-Michael dance collage that fits well for MJ fans. The make-up is good, as always, which means that the ghouls looks quite frightening. Then there's the whole 'I'm Michael Jackson, I'm cool, and I have supernatural powers' feel to the movie...which is also good for Jackson fans.

The comedy in this movie is comical and slapstick. No surprise there. And while Thriller was more of a homage to monster-movies of the past, GHOSTS is more of an abstract self-commentary by Michael Jackson about his own life and career. A Maestro, himself, living amongst people who don't understand and always seem to find problems with him even though he's only inviting their children into his home with good intentions at heart. It basically says 'don't judge a book by it's damn cover' in a different way.

Whatever the sub-meaning may be to this movie, it's meant strictly for Michael Jackson fans. Sadly, it was a desperate attempt to reignite the phenomenon that was 'Thriller', and although it was attached to certain screenings of horror movies back in 1997, it hardly made a name for itself on VHS. You'll probably never find this easily be it on any format, so you'll just have to find other means to watch this if you really want to. Again, it has a number of songs that are nice to listen to, but on a whole, the film tanked on an epic level. It's made specifically for those who like or once liked the King of Pop, because it doesn't do any good as a standalone movie with a plot of its own.
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Wrap : GHOSTS gets a 2.0 out of 5.0. It's worth a peek if you once enjoyed MJ's music, but overall, it's nothing good.