The reviews are in for the Michael Jackson biopic, Michael — and it’s total carnage on Rotten Tomatoes.
With over 100 reviews, the movie has a disappointing 38 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating, with critics negatively comparing the biopic to a “biggest hits” album.
Despite music biopic genre tropes being torn to shreds by Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Hollywood can’t get enough of music biopics, especially once they make as much money as Michael is projected to make.
That’s why the Watch With Us team has compiled an inventory of the 4 worst music biopics ever made. From Queen to Amy Winehouse, these movies did a cruel disservice to the musicians they were speculated to have fun.
4. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (2018)
Don’t let those Oscar nominations idiot you — Bohemian Rhapsody has gone more the way in which of Crash than Moonlight in relation to post-Oscars cultural cache. Still, on the time, many were confused, particularly by Bohemian Rhapsody’s Best Picture nomination, for a movie that generally divided critics by way of quality. Starring Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury, Bohemian Rhapsody charts the formation of the pop-rock band Queen up through their legendary Live Aid performance, specializing in Mercury’s life and the way in which he bucked conventions to develop into a bona fide rock star.
Ultimately, Bohemian Rhapsody is as much a biggest hits movie as Michael, a superficial and sanitized have a look at a posh and engaging person corresponding to Mercury, with a script that doesn’t give his life and profession what it deserves. Though the movie clinched Malek an Academy Award for Best Actor, and his performance is superb, it’s still way more of an impression of Mercury than an embodiment of him. The formulaic rise-and-fall story, significant inaccuracies and shallow depiction of Mercury’s sexuality are only a number of of the film’s biggest sins.
3. ‘Back to Black’ (2024)
15 years after directing a music biopic a few controversial musician who died tragically too young, director Sam Taylor-Johnson returns to this particular genre with Back to Black, concerning the life and death of pop singer Amy Winehouse. Back to Black already needed to contend with the wonderful 2015 documentary Amy, which provides a nuanced and comprehensive have a look at Winehouse as a lady, an addict, a victim of exploitation and an immensely talented singer taken from the world far too soon. And Taylor-Johnson’s movie was dinged before it even hit theaters as a consequence of the casting of Industry actress Marisa Abela, who was given a prosthetic nose to play Winehouse.
The movie is widely considered to be unworthy of the star at the middle of its story, covering Winehouse’s personal demons with skin-deep nuance and featuring nearly every music biopic cliché within the book. Despite admittedly strong performances from Abela and Jack O’Connell, Back to Black skirts a critical eye towards anyone who isn’t the paparazzi, despite Winehouse’s father and boyfriend each playing a vital hand in her downfall. Plus, the sensationalist nature of the movie’s final scene will likely leave a nasty taste in your mouth. Back to Black is nothing greater than vague and misguided.
2. ‘Stardust’ (2020)
Imagine, for those who will, a biographical film about David Bowie (played by Johnny Flynn) but with none of Bowie’s iconic music. No “Moonage Daydream,” no “Starman” and no “Life on Mars.” Without the music that defined Bowie as a legendary figure on the planet of rock, how do you even go about tackling his life story? Well, 2020’s Stardust definitely gave it a shot and failed miserably. Stardust was famously unable to afford the licenses needed to acquire access to Bowie’s music catalogue, and thus, director Gabriel Range‘s film attempts to capture the nascent rocker with none of the work that made him a star.
Despite the fact that Stardust attempts to capture Bowie’s earlier life, it still depicts him happening tour for his third album, The Man Who Sold the World, so at this point, Bowie had already written tracks like “Space Oddity.” But even apart from the film’s attempt at working around its inability to feature any of its subjects’ famous songs, Stardust is incredibly bland, inauthentic and doesn’t nearly do Bowie any justice. The by-the-numbers movie is ultimately a real letdown by blandly depicting an artist who was so singular and unique.
1. ‘Nina’ (2016)
Zoe Saldaña would likely prefer Nina and its incredible 2 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating to be lost to the annals of history, if not only for the poor quality of a movie a few music titan but in addition for the controversy it generated from casting the admittedly talented Saldana within the role of Nina Simone. Saldaña, a lady of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent, was forged to play Simone, a Black woman, and what resulted was an exceedingly eyebrow-raising use of nose prosthetics and makeup to make Saldaña’s skin closer to the colour of her subject. Saldaña eventually expressed public regret for taking the role.
Art imitating life. Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, Sarah Paulson and more stars made their marks playing real people in movies and TV shows. Many won awards for his or her onscreen depictions of each beloved and controversial figures throughout history. The American Horror Story actress earned an Emmy for her portrayal of famous prosecutor Marcia Clark in […]
But beyond this major casting snafu, the movie just isn’t any good in any respect. Dull direction, editing and writing flatten the depiction of the chaotic period of Simone’s profession that the movie attempts to cover, and you may’t help but watch Nina and get the sensation that the people behind it didn’t even understand their subject. Fans of Simone’s work — or those wanting to learn more about her — could be higher off watching a documentary or simply reading a biography about her life. You’ll likely come away from Nina knowing even less about her.