Review: The Greatest Showman

"A musical set in the past, with modern music. If seeing people in top hats with steam trains suddenly breaking into modern style songs with modern style singing styles annoys you, this film is not for you."

General Thoughts:

A loose with facts telling of how P. T. Barnum put together a very famous business. Hugh Jackman was born for the role, even if he is a little old to be playing a young Barnum, but his performance is strong in all areas, including his singing and dancing.

The supporting characters are also well played, with Michelle Williams and Zac Efron in particular strong in their roles.

The story works at its best in the opening half, as Barnum builds his show from nothing and battles prejudice and financial issues. The story has energy and moves through different stages of development with good pacing.

The choreography is very creative, using the circus elements very well. Most of the CGI is effective and adds to the classic musical feel.

My Issues:

The movie touches on many issues, including racism, discrimination, class wars and hints at Barnum’s infidelities. However, the film's upbeat tone and desire to be uplifting throughout, means that the film doesn't give much weight to these issues and glosses over some areas that would make the story much more engaging, especially in the second half.

The music is also quite jarring and you have to let go of the fact that a musical set in the 1800's has very modern music as both part of the musical score and as songs performed by the characters within the film. The most noticeable and difficult to accept for me, being the song performed by the character Jenny Lind, who is based on a very famous opera singer, but here she sings a pop ballad which feels very out of place.

Recommendation:

A film worth watching. The performances are all top notch and the film is well structured at 105 minutes. Worth supporting more films in this style.