Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

If I were to tell you there was a film where Michael Jackson becomes a little child, got chased by clay animated monsters, turned into a bunny, ran with a little girl into a cave to find a drug den, got chased by mobsters, turned into a car, gunned down several SWAT agents, became a robot and then flew to his home planet in a spaceship then would you believe me? Well you should, because all this and more happens in Moonwalker. One of the biggest WTF films you could ever see.It has no plot. It has no logic. Heck, I don't even think it even had a script. I'm guessing Jackson just wrote a list of things he wanted to do and the filmmakers obliged since he's Michael Jackson. It's overly absurd nature seems to be at times one of the most detailed recreations of and LSD trip since Yellow Submarine was put to screen in the 60's. But as long as you can embrace this insane nature it can be pretty fun. Mostly because everything in the film lacks any consistency with nothing other than Jacksons presence linking all the scenes together. Largely this is due to being split into several segment's and being shot by several people so nothing about the style or the plot keeps consistent. It starts with live concerts, then a mixture of clay and 2d animation sequences before shifting into what's best described as a dark noir style action. It's with this lack of consistency that becomes amusing with many of the scenes being either pointless or simply bizarre. Most of it just happens without any explanation whatsoever with no real arching story to link the different segments. I'm guessing that this didn't matter too much for Jackson and that he just viewed the story of the film as a way of gratifying his wacky ideas and acting as filler between the times when he's singing. Towards the end of the film Jackson literally forgets about finishing the story and leaves the other characters behind so he can just have a music concert. But I can't really complain about this seeing as it is Michaels Jacksons songs, many of which coming from his prime in the 80's.Also the music videos that accompany the songs are usually pretty cool. However sometimes they do get annoying and can show just how big an ego he had with Man in the Mirror being played over a mixture of fans cheering him like a god with footage of historic peace figures like Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa and Ghandi. Talk about holding yourself in high regard… On top of that shortly after comes the Leave Me Alone song where he then complains about the attention that he's been getting. If you don't want attention then you shouldn't big up your persona so much!Other sequences are simply awesome and amongst Jacksons best music videos. Take for example Smooth Criminal. Whilst it came out of nowhere and had no reason for being, the dance sequence is by far the films greatest moment. It's incredibly shot with an awesome fast paced style to keep in tune with the tone of the music. The dance choreography is amongst the best of Jackson's career with the likes of synchronised side steps and the famous lean keeping the sequence innovative throughout. And on top of all this, it just looks cool throughout with awesome gangster suits and finishing with Jackson getting out a massive gun and shooting out the entire room. All done to the already fantastic song, the Smooth Criminal sequence is a brilliant 10 minute music video and probably my favourite Michael Jackson music video. If you do not want to watch the rest of this film, I would strongly advise at least watching this scene on YouTube. Then there are the live concert songs, which whilst obviously out of place (just like the rest of the film) do give a good concert feel throughout actually being filmed with fully packed audiences. After all it is Jackson's music and he is the king of pop. He's just got a great stage presence that even on film still allows him to dominate and keep you glued to the screen. It may lack plot but it would be impossible to deny that this film does have one heck of a soundtrack. So when it comes to a film like this it really depends on what you're expecting. If you come in to this film expecting plot or characters, then you're going to be disappointed. But if you just watch it expecting some cool music sequences mixed with a whole lot of WTF moments you're going to be in for a treat. If nothing else the film does paint an interesting portrait in the mind of one of the greatest, albeit also strangest, singers of the 20th century and is worth a watch due to the sheer absurdity if nothing else.

Besides from the seeing the new "This Is It" and saying Im a huge Michael Jackson fan, I thought I would prove it and see a movie he actually did back in his time. "Moonwalker" breaks all rules, laws, and scripts in the film making history. It's completed in a phenomenal fashion all leading up to the highlight of the film. A triumph comic-book texture short entitled "Smooth Criminal" which Ill discuss later.Besides being subject to jokes and media, we need to remember that back in the 80s everyone was into Michael Jackson. So having a movie on him titled by his dance that only a handful knew, Moonwalker. The film is what you would call, a montage of Jackson clips, so Ill have to do separate paragraphs to sort these out so I don't do block writing entirely. Though I may combine some since some are very short.The movie opens with Michael Jackson singing "Main In the Mirror" at a live concert. He is covered in sweat and singing his heart out just to please his fans. Then it cuts to a kaleidoscopic view of MJ's career leading up till 1988. We see early clips of The Jacksons 5. From "ABC" to "Beat It", it's all there.Then we get a short clip of "Bad", entitled "Badder". The kids are amazingly talented, doing back flips, front flips, everything while lip syncing key point of the MJ song. It was sort of unnecessary having this on the tape seeing as I didn't want to see kids sing one of my favorite songs. Sure they were lip syncing, but I would like to see my one of my favorite songs sung by the artist. Not pre "Kidz Bop" it up.Followed by, my favorite of the film, "Speed Demon" which is MJ being bombarded by his fans who are claymation figures. The scene, is overall colorful and very upbeat. MJ acts natural, as if he has done this before (which he probably has). Overall, this is the best thing on the tape, so far."Leave Me Alone" is a heartfelt crowdpleaser, showing MJ dancing in front of a crowd, announcing to everyone who can hear him to, well, leave him alone. It's a catchy tune that is definitely and underrated portion of the film.The next clip, is the main course, and the point of this whole film extravaganza. It is Michael Jackson, playing a superhero trying to stop Mr. Big (Joe Pesci) from drug-dealing crime boss with an army of henchmen. Michael Jackson, at the same time, is protecting Katie, Zeke, and Sean three homeless kids who spy on MJ. After escaping Mr. Big's clutches, MJ goes into the club and begins dancing to "Smooth Criminal" while defeating Big's henchman. Thats all you can say without giving anything away. It is a real standout from the movie and the dance choreography is stunning. Michael is probably the at his most lively stage yet, and not putting himself or dancers into any grueling treatment.Then the last two segments are minor, though serve a purpose. "Come Together" isn't the greatest thing to come out of the tape. It is a little long, but still not awful. "Come Together" is a song originally written and sung by The Beatles being sung by Jackson here. In my opinion it should have stayed sung by The Beatles."The Moon is Walking" and the music video of "Smooth Criminal" closes this heartfelt film. My only complaint is that this movie is unsure of what it wants to be. First, it wants to be a documentary, then it wants to be a compilation of music videos and music clips. It jumps around and at points is confused. But for the most part, "Moonwalker" is a sensational movie that is sure too please MJ's fans.

Woefully bad Michael Jackson vehicle that pits the chameleon singer against a sadistic drug lord and a whole bunch of storm troopers. The musical numbers do something to rescue the production from oblivion, only because Jackson can sing and dance. Frightening to see Joe Pesci playing the evil nemesis of Jackson. He sure went up from there.The movie opens with a brief Jackson anthology, and the entire film would have been streets better done like that from beginning to end. Ah! Michael and his imagination! At least he did not go on to further embarrassment by making another "Moonwalker".Monday, April 26, 1999 - Video

If I were to take a trip back to my childhood, the aptly-named "Moonwalker", the brainchild of Michael Jackson, would be one of the prominent stops. Even back when I wasn't necessarily an MJ fan (I am now), this movie captured my imagination. Rather than a whole, cohesive movie, it's a collection of mini-films, for the most part well-woven together. The first part is a performance of "Man in the Mirror". The second is a retrospective on Michael Jackson's career, with clips from his music videos and performances from his early career to his "Bad" days (which is the era when the movie was made, and it shows). The third is a re-enactment of the "Bad" video by a younger counterpart of the cast. The fourth part is a mini-movie which features Michael Jackson escaping from maniacal fans and press by racing a motorcycle as a rabbit-man and eventually doing a dance duel with him (you really need to see it to believe it). The fifth is a video for "Leave Me Alone", and the sixth and final part is a noir/sci-fi film where Michael and three young kids on the streets who have befriended him try to escape a drug lord (Joe Pesci) who wants Michael's head after the latter discovers his plans to get all kids addicted to drugs."Moonwalker" never made it to theatres in the US (it did, however, in Europe and South America), but that didn't stop the VHS release to be sold in over 800,000 copies within a year of the movie's release. It is a truly engrossing trip through the imagination of the legendary musician/entertainer. While many musicians have tried their hands at film-making and only succeeded at showing that they have no talent at it, Michael Jackson surprises. Not only does he show that he has as much feel for staging and visual storytelling as he has for music, he manages to make this movie his own, weaving into both the collage and story some truly imaginative moments.Take the midway point, where we sort of hit the "present". The "Bad" video is reenacted by younger actors, in a truly hilarious but nonetheless competent spectacle. After that, Michael Jackson emerges onto the 'streets' of Hollywood and is hounded by an assortment of stark-raving-mad, claymated fans and press. An attempt by a humoured Michael to escape his chasers ensues, but as he finds out, trying to hide out in Hollywood studios (especially when you're Michael Jackson) is about as easy as hiding the punch at a banquet.But his way out of this situation is possibly my favourite part of the movie. Disguising himself as a leather-clad rabbit man, he manages to escape the studios on a bicycle, which transforms into a motorcycle. At this point "Speed Demon" kicks in as the rabbit-man drives at breakneck speed down the highway, ocean and sky. And still the relentless fans and media are hot on Michael's tail, his disguise not fooling them. This all makes up a truly stunning piece of claymation, both excellently-paced and delicious to behold. Driving out into the desert, Michael takes off his disguise only to have the rabbit disguise reanimate itself, and the two do the best dance duel I've ever seen. It's especially stunning to see the claymated rabbit dance like MJ, and Will Vinton and co (who were responsible for the claymation segment, while Michael himself is live-action) truly deserve an applause for this as well as Michael.Following is the video for "Leave Me Alone", a truly imaginative, satirical portrait of the mass hysteria the media attribute to Michael. Michael humorously visualises this as an amusement park constructed on top of him, while a miniature version of him goes through a has-to-be-seen-to-be-believed tour, frequented by lots of dogs in suits. This video may feel like a filler but its imagination and vision more than make up for it.This is when the 'movie' itself begins. My favourite part is when Michael steps into a 30s-style club and "Smooth Criminal" kicks in, resulting in a truly artistic music-video sequence, climaxing in the middle, when the music dies and the club-goers chant, for almost a minute, before the music kicks back in. I won't spoil the rest of the movie for you, but these are my favourite parts.If you are a Michael Jackson fan then this belongs in your collection for sure. Whether or not you are a fan, if you want to see a really imaginative, creative journey through Michael Jackons's imagination, I can also recommend this. One thing is for sure; the tagline couldn't be more correct. This truly IS a movie like no other.