The Greatest Showman
The Greatest Showman is the brainchild of, and stars, Hugh Jackman as P.T. Barnum and charts his rise and the rise of the circus in the form of a musical. It also stars Zac Efron, Zendaya, Michelle Williams and Rebecca Ferguson. This is a movie that I've been wanting to see for months now and having seen it all I can say is, well, this is an advertisement of everything that is wrong about musicals.
The Greatest Showman falls into the trap of having all its musical numbers come about out of nowhere and I hate to say by the time of the second number it's already dawned on you that this will be the status quo for the entire runtime. And as for the actual quality of the numbers, it's very bizarre. All of the songs feel like rejects from Eurovision. Modern pop that can be played regardless of the context of the movie, to be sold as a soundtrack. The choice of modern pop for the songs style seems out of place for P.T. Barnum and the 19th century and moreso bizarrely a deliberate one at that. Hugh Jackman has been on record as saying the modern style was to reflect the progressive nature of P.T. Barnum, a man who was "way ahead of his time." However it just makes you feel like every time the music starts that you're being sucked straight out of the film.
Returning to Hugh Jackman's comment about P.T. Barnum being "way ahead of his time" gives the movie it's next and most glaring issue. This film does not know what it's main story wants to be. Portraying P.T. Barnum as a champion of equality or him being someone corrupted by his pursuit of fame, the film peddles both but never decides what it's main focus should be leading to a unorganised narrative. Neither comes across as engrossing and the only plot strand that I felt heavily invested in was the relationship between Zedanya and Zac Efron's character and unfortunately this is the one thing that has no basis whatsoever in historical fact.
Next, this film's portrayal of P.T. Barnum is one that is very one note and seems to come from Jackman's very loving thoughts on this guy. However seeing P.T. Barnum being portrayed on screen as a champion of equality felt very unnerving as in reality he was little more than a glorified slave owner in the eyes of many. I thought this movie would lean more on and explore that debate more than it did but instead it leaves one of the most interesting aspects in the story of P.T. Barnum on the way side.
However despite all this taken as a whole I can't help but say I was thoroughly entertained throughout. The performances and music are still fun enough and the choreography was particularly pleasing. I've had some of these songs on loop in my head for days.
The Greatest Showman gets a C.
The Greatest Showman falls into the trap of having all its musical numbers come about out of nowhere and I hate to say by the time of the second number it's already dawned on you that this will be the status quo for the entire runtime. And as for the actual quality of the numbers, it's very bizarre. All of the songs feel like rejects from Eurovision. Modern pop that can be played regardless of the context of the movie, to be sold as a soundtrack. The choice of modern pop for the songs style seems out of place for P.T. Barnum and the 19th century and moreso bizarrely a deliberate one at that. Hugh Jackman has been on record as saying the modern style was to reflect the progressive nature of P.T. Barnum, a man who was "way ahead of his time." However it just makes you feel like every time the music starts that you're being sucked straight out of the film.
Returning to Hugh Jackman's comment about P.T. Barnum being "way ahead of his time" gives the movie it's next and most glaring issue. This film does not know what it's main story wants to be. Portraying P.T. Barnum as a champion of equality or him being someone corrupted by his pursuit of fame, the film peddles both but never decides what it's main focus should be leading to a unorganised narrative. Neither comes across as engrossing and the only plot strand that I felt heavily invested in was the relationship between Zedanya and Zac Efron's character and unfortunately this is the one thing that has no basis whatsoever in historical fact.
Next, this film's portrayal of P.T. Barnum is one that is very one note and seems to come from Jackman's very loving thoughts on this guy. However seeing P.T. Barnum being portrayed on screen as a champion of equality felt very unnerving as in reality he was little more than a glorified slave owner in the eyes of many. I thought this movie would lean more on and explore that debate more than it did but instead it leaves one of the most interesting aspects in the story of P.T. Barnum on the way side.
However despite all this taken as a whole I can't help but say I was thoroughly entertained throughout. The performances and music are still fun enough and the choreography was particularly pleasing. I've had some of these songs on loop in my head for days.
The Greatest Showman gets a C.
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