Which still doesn't excuse Antoine Fuqua's heavily scrubbed origin story, which refashions the King of Pop's story into the Passion of St. Michael.

LOS ANGELES, April 21 (UPI) -- Michael, in theaters Friday, is far from the first musician biopic to use familiar shortcuts and cliches to chronicle an artist's life and career. However, those cliches have gotten a lot funnier to notice since Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story parodied them in 2007.

Critics as a whole did not hold back in their reviews for Michael, labelling the film as ‘shallow’, ‘dumb’, stilted’ and ‘bulls***’.

A new biopic, titled Michael, sees the singer's nephew Jaafar Jackson portray his uncle's rise to fame.

A new biopic, titled Michael, sees the singer's nephew Jaafar Jackson portray his uncle's rise to fame.

The long-gestating Michael Jackson biopic "Michael" opens in theaters Friday to a sharply divided critical reception, with reviewers largely praising star Jaafar Jackson's uncanny perfo

Michael isn't a biopic, but a commercial for Michael Jackson that works hard to avoid anything controversial about the King of Pop. Here's our review.

The first reviews for Michael, the much-awaited biopic on the King of Pop Michael Jackson, are out — and the response is far from glowing.

Antoine Fuqua's biopic features strong performances, a paper-thin script, and a unshakably icky lack of major events.

In an effective middle-of-the-road biopic, Jaafar Jackson nails the look, the moves — and the mix of delicacy and steel that made Michael who he was.