![]() ![]() Indeed, no narration is necessary at any point, since the upside of Lee’s closeness to his subject – and, of course, his individual clout – is that he’s been able to assemble a teeming ensemble of top-drawer talking heads, from name enablers like super-producer Quincy Jones and “Bad” video director Martin Scorsese to longtime entourage members to such celebrity fans as Mariah Carey and a typically boisterous Kanye West. One of several fascinating trivia nuggets unearthed by Leigh in the film is that the song was initially conceived as a Whitney Houston duet when the soul diva, another prematurely departed pillar of 1980s pop culture, presents Jackson with a career tribute in a choice bit of archive footage, the cutting poignancy of the moment is left astutely unspoken by Lee. (Among the exec producers, after all, are Jackson’s attorney John Branca and his co-executor John McClain.) Even devoted interviewees, however, can admit to certain artistic miscalculations on “Bad,” such as the missed opportunity of lackluster Stevie Wonder collaboration “Just Good Friends,” or the curious choice of MOR ballad “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” as the propulsive LP’s lead single. This inevitably means that those looking for a more critically perspicacious view on Jackson’s output will find themselves in the wrong place. Barring the occasional jovial quip from behind the camera, his personality is largely muted so as not to impose on that of Jackson, with whom Lee enjoyed a firsthand friendship. Though the film is, of course, branded upfront as a Spike Lee joint, the straight-ahead treatment of “ Bad 25” betrays less of the firebrand filmmaker’s touch than much of his nonfiction work.
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