Publication Date: 04-21-2026

Moonwalker (1988) review

Dir. Jerry Kramer, Colin Chilvers, and Jim Blashfield

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★★★½

Following Michael Jackson’s death — on June 25th, 2009, my 13th birthday, no less — I began devouring as much Michael Jackson media as I could find. I was already a young fan, but there was still a trough of shorts, music videos, and of course, music I needed to hear. I remember giving my mother $20 so she could order a VHS copy of Moonwalker for me on Amazon. Had I just waited a few more months, I could’ve paid about-the-same price for Warner’s brand new Blu-ray, released in 2010. I was never very good at being patient.

If any artist could get away with releasing an anthological music video to theaters and have it be seen as a sprawling work of multimedia entertainment first and a vanity project second, it’s Michael Jackson on that very shortlist of people. I wonder if Moonwalker — theatrically released in Europe and South America, but instead sent straight-to-video in America in 1988 — is responsible for giving contemporary artists like Travi$ Scott and The Weeknd the chutzpah for thinking they could do it too with Circus Maximus and Hurry Up Tomorrow, respectively.

If you’re wondering if Moonwalker is a documentary, a concert movie, a collection of music videos, or a narrative-based work, the answer is “yes” to all of the above. It’s a deceptively dense 90-minute showcase of Michael Jackson’s musical talents, prodigal dancing, and keen eye for the cinematic. Jackson had deep and intricate visions for his music videos, and with the help of some of the finest directors in cinema, including Martin Scorsese (“Bad“) and Francis Ford Coppola (Captain EO), it’s not terribly surprising that even his shorter works visually pop and engage on a level usually afforded to movies. For Moonwalker, Jackson tapped Jerry Kramer, Colin Chilvers (the tentpole “Smooth Criminal” segment) and Jim Blashfield (“Leave Me Alone”) to bring an assortment of ideas to life in an uneven-yet-riveting look at the multilayered power of Michael Jackson.

Following cross-edited concert footage of Michael Jackson performing “Man in the Mirror,” to the adoration and even collapsing of many of his fans, a 10-minute retrospective takes us through the music of Michael going all the way back to the Jackson 5 days. One of the film’s anchor segments is “Speed Demon,” a claymation short commissioned by Will Vinton (creator of the California Raisins) involving Michael Jackson being swarmed by paparazzi and tourists alike as he speeds through the streets on his motorcycle. The energy is high and the music bangs in conjunction with the dynamic stop-motion elements employed.

The tentpole of the feature is “Smooth Criminal.” If you’re at all familiar with the Sega Genesis video game of the same name, you’ll recognize the story was pretty faithfully adapted from this material, right down to the inclusion of dogs, a large, robot version of Jackson colloquially known as “Mecha Jackson,” and a scared little girl who yells “Michael!” in distress. The longest of the segments, “Smooth Criminal” involves Jackson trying to stop a drug-dealing mogul named Frank Lideo (Joe Pesci, looking like Riff Raff from The Rocky Horror Picture Show in his true-alien form) from poisoning orphaned children via teddy bears and other toys. Absurdly dark, but no less, this is one of those rare extended music videos that feels like it has tangible stakes. It’s so good that I truly didn’t mind the constant start-stops of the music; this mix of “Smooth Criminal,” one of my all-time favorite MJ songs, is also radically different from the version that’s on the iconic Bad album. The dance choreography is also phenomenal, culminating with Michael Jackson’s impressive lean, which, like his moonwalk dance, still invigorates no matter how many times you’ve seen it. It’s worth noting that the song’s official music video is a truncated version of this 30-something-minute centerpiece, which takes the film to its climax — Jackson performing a cover of “Come Together.”

This is my second crack at reviewing Moonwalker, and I still have no idea how the hell to do so. It’s uncommon for a film this incongruent and flimsily structured to still retain effectiveness based on visual artistry and the performing prowess of one of the greatest entertainers in history. Michael Jackson was a rare breed for a plethora of reasons.

NOTE: Pay attention to the name of Joe Pesci’s character in the film, Frank Lideo, and then consider one of the executive producers of Moonwalker is a gentleman named Frank DiLeo. DiLeo served as Michael Jackson’s manager from 1984 – 1989, and then again in 2009, right up until his death. Evidently, he had a great sense of humor to go along with his talents.

NOTE II: As of this writing, you can also watch Moonwalker in its entirety on YouTube, free of charge.

My review of Captain EO (1986)
My review of Michael Jackson’s Ghosts (1996)
My review of Michael Jackson’s This Is It (2009)
My review of Bad 25 (2012)
My review of Leaving Neverland (2019)
My review of Michael (2026)

Starring: Michael Jackson, Joe Pesci, Kellie Parker, Sean Lennon, Brandon Quintin Adams, Clancy Brown, Paul Reubens, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Directed by: Jerry Kramer, Colin Chilvers, and Jim Blashfield.