It was the footage fans had been desperately waiting for - last night the curtain came up on the final months of Michael Jackson's life. This Is It premiered simultaneously at cinemas across the globe, and it thrilled and disappointed in equal measure.
Listen to a Newsline report here:
This Is It is a montage of the pop performer's best songs, and features impressive footage of the rehearsals for the tour of the same name that had been due to start in London just weeks after the singer died.
There are the smooth moves and the slick shots of the set that you'd expect from such a production, as well as some gushing interviews with his backing dancers. But anyone expecting to see the 'real' Michael Jackson should look elsewhere, for This Is It places a firmly positive spin on this songwriter's story.
Work ethic
Outside the Tuschinski cinema in Amsterdam - where one of the screenings was held - fans were enthusiastic about what they saw as shedding light on the work ethic of the 'King of Pop'.
"I think it's a great film, a lot of energy in it, great dance and music," one of them said. "I loved it... It was him - the man as he really was. It was him as a perfectionist."
See the official movie trailer here (story continues below)
London shows
The best scenes reveal the painstaking process of setting up the London shows, which would have featured pyrotechnics and the all-important cherry picker to transport Jackson high above the crowds. And the interviews with the dancers reveal just how passionately everyone involved believed in the project, including the man himself.
Disapproval
But, of course, no Michael Jackson story would be complete without a side helping of scandal and there's been a loud chorus of disapproval from those who feel the film exploits his memory.
This Is Not It is a website set up by a group claiming the punishing rehearsals took a heavy toll on his life - a detail they say was airbrushed out of the movie to make it more saleable.
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