It’s amazing whenever you see a convincing imitation of the late Michael Jackson.

Obviously, it can be done, as the late “King of Pop” is honored by tribute acts such as the popular Who’s Bad: The Ultimate Michael Jackson Experience, and multiple productions of the crowd-pleasing biographical stage production “MJ the Musical” can be seen around the world.

And perhaps the performance delivered by Jaafar Jackson — the son of Michael’s brother Jermaine — in the new film “Michael” shouldn’t astound, given that he’s got his uncle’s blood pumping through his veins.

But astound it does.

In his feature-film debut, Jaafar is uneven in his acting, but he crushes as a performer, the actor-singer said to have danced constantly for two years as he prepared for the demanding role. Even though the vocals are a mix of his and his uncle’s master recordings, his work sings.

Those fancy feet, paired with his channeling Michael’s unique essence, and, of course, the timeless songs of the controversial global icon are the biggest reasons the biopic from “Training Day” director Antoine Fuqua is likely to entertain moviegoers everywhere.

“Michael” is a toe-tapping good time.

It’s also barely beyond a surface-level portrait of the most talented of Jacksons. At roughly two breezy hours, “Michael” reportedly left about that same amount of footage on the cutting-room floor, content said to explore his later, increasingly, well, challenging years. It is said there are legal reasons for that, but a likely sequel — “Michael” covers the performer’s time from his early days with the Jackson 5 to a performance of his 1987 hit “Bad” — seemingly would need to address the allegations of child abuse levied against him.

The titular figure in “Michael” is eccentric, sure — he loves animals in a way that’s at least, shall we say, whimsical — but not problematic. He spends time connecting with sick or injured kids in hospitals, but that is entirely sweet and even moving.

Michael begins in the mid-1960s in Gary, Indiana, where a younger Michael (Juliano Valdi) is singing lead in front of his older, taller brothers in the modest home of their parents, Joe (Colman Domingo) and Katherine (Nia Long). The demanding Joe wants something pretty darned close to perfection from the Jackson 5, insisting that these Black boys from Gary will need to work especially hard to be winners, not losers. It is a lesson imparted to Michael again with a belt, following what the lad thinks was a public performance that went well.

Joe’s will and Michael’s talent result in big things for the act, including a recording session with legendary Motown recording figure Berry Gordy (Larenz Tate), who gets the performance from Michael he’s looking for after getting the soon-to-be star to stop dancing while singing — and after sidelining the very hands-on Joe.

As years pass — and Jaafar takes over the role of a now-grown Michael — the singer is still largely the boy he’s always been. He still loves animals — and has begun filling the grounds of the family’s compound in Encino, California, with them, the family members noticeably apprehensive when Bubbles the chimp joins the fold — and shares movie-and-popcorn nights with Mom. Plus, he still gets lost in the pages of an illustrated “Peter Pan” book, where he clearly relates with the boy who won’t grow up, sees a certain someone from his life as Captain Hook-like and fantasizes of living in Neverland.

As penned by John Logan (“Hugo,” “The Aviator,” “Gladiator”), what passes for the dramatic throughline of “Michael” is the character’s desire to break away from Joe, a task he decides he is ready for and then attempts to farm out to others — who, to be fair, aren’t necessarily excited to take it on themselves.

Allow Michael to make a solo album? Sure, Joe tells them. But only on his OWN time.

“I own his ass from 9 to 5,” Joe says.

Of course, superstardom as a solo artist comes for Michael, with Fuqua doing a nice job with the core task of the film — effectively showcasing songs such as huge hits from the massive smash that was the 1982 album “Thriller”: “Beat It,” “Billie Jean,” “Human Nature” and the title track.

Just try to stop those toes from tapping.

The most nuanced element of “Michael” is the portrayal of Joe, dancing, if you will, on the line separating demanding from abusive, with Domingo (“Sing Sing,” “The Madness”) sensational as the force of nature that is Joe. In the hands of Fuqua, Logan and, especially, Domingo, Joe is not a one-note villain but a man who, at the very least, loses perspective while doing what he insists is best for the family.

On the other hand, “Michael” gives the viewer little in the way of food for thought when it comes to its main subject. It’s hard to single out anything that even a casual fan wouldn’t already understand about Jackson, who died in 2009.

Perhaps it won’t be fair to judge this film, at least not fully, until the arrival of a film we’ll call “Michael: Part 2,” a film that almost certainly won’t be as fun as this one.

But when Lionsgate, the studio behind “Michael,” officially greenlights that endeavor, we’ll nonetheless look forward to more of Jaafar Jackson, as well as, we hope, the complicated story of this musical genius being completed in what we hope will be a thoughtful and compelling manner.

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‘MICHAEL’

3 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: PG-13 (for some thematic material, language, and smoking)

Running time: 2:07

How to watch: In theaters April 24

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