The Greatest Showman review

I've seen the reviews. Which isn't so great. There was the criticism on the music and the story itself. I'm on holidays, so I'm going to spend my time on YouTube. I watched some clips of The Greatest Showman promotions. Then I started to listen to the songs off the Atlantic Records YouTube channel. After that I just bought the album off of iTunes. Then I realized I also needed to watch this movie. So, I saw The Greatest Showman on Wednesday. I also saw this movie by myself because everyone I know is at work. There are more theatres playing this, so my theatre wasn't packed.

This will be a spoiler filled movie review.



Since I was listening to the album for an entire day, I didn't know exactly how this translated onto screen. Also, I don't know much about P.T. Barnum. I only saw the circus when I was a little kid, and I went with my best friend and her parents at the time.

The movie starts off fantastic, with the opening number of The Greatest Show, and the way they filmed the number with Hugh Jackman was impressive to me. I liked the starting tone, I really liked what they did with that number. It was flashy, there was stomping, and it was an extravaganza. The rest of the story I didn't have so much problems with. I felt that Michelle Williams is a strong actress playing opposite Hugh Jackman. I really enjoyed Zac Efron and Zendaya. Maybe it was me, but for some reason I expected them to be more in the movie. Especially Zac Efron, since his name is the second on the credits, but I would argue that Michelle Williams appears more than Zac Efron. Or at least in terms of lines and songs.

My ranking of my favourite song numbers:
1) The Greatest Showman - The opening and ending of the movie. I loved when the entire cast and ensemble come together and do this number. I also really like the beat of this song.

2) Rewrite the Stars - The duet between Philip Carlyle (Zac Efron) and Anne Wheeler (Zendaya). Their voices work so well together in this song. Also the moves with the rings and the weights were impressive. Technically that looked really difficult to do but I also thought it worked so well in that scene. Kind of showing the different classes between Anne Wheeler and Philip Carlyle (circus act vs the man who owns 10% of the circus).

3) The Other Side - The duet between P.T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman) and Philip Carlyle (Zac Efron). I liked the fancy footwork, and how the entire number was presented. The song is also very catchy.

4) This is Me - The song from the Bearded Lady. I like how the ensemble cast comes together for the song. It also shows the turbulent times when there are protesters outside of the circus. Some parts I felt like there was too much yelling.

While I really liked these songs and I think they work well, I also feel like they are pieces of the movie, but the movie as a whole has some major gaps. The movie is marketed as to be yourself. Sometimes you need freedom from the norm and that is why people enjoy watching the circus. However, even though Barnum says this, he has a difficult time believing that. So he is constantly trying to prove to others his worth. He says he is doing it for the future of his daughter, but he totally abandons them to go on tour with the Swedish Singer, Jenny Lind. He also abandons the circus in order to promote this singer. This leaves Carlyle to pick up where Barnum left the circus. Also he's just doing this for 10%.

When Jenny Lind displays that she has feelings for Barnum, he ends that and he returns home after a final performance, with Jenny basically giving Barnum a kiss goodbye. So there is this whole blow up for Barnum. However, he is basically sitting in a bar after his wife left him, and he doesn't have a circus anymore. I'm not sure what I was expecting. I would rather Barnum going to the circus members and apologizing for his actions and them to except him back. Instead, I guess maybe because they have accepted themselves through singing "This is Me" that they go back to him, to invite him to be with them. Also that they need him to set up the circus. This part just bothered me because before Barnum left the circus to go on tour with Jenny Lind, the circus members were angry with Barnum. I'm not sure if it's because of the way they have to start "From Now On".

Also when they were trying to rebuild the circus, they had no funds. However, luckily Carlyle was putting away 10% of his cut, and he has enough to rebuild the circle. Instead of a building they decide to do this through a tent since the building was burnt down. However, now he is a 50/50 partner.

My problem was everything happened and was fixed very easily. Almost without consequence. Though the good thing about the ending is, Barnum steps back, and lets Carlyle become the ring master of the circus. So he learned his lesson.

Another problem I have with this movie is, I feel like it tries to touch on current social issues, but it gently touches it and then moves on or things are easily fixed. For the circus acts, it's the bearded lady, a man full of tattoos, and a man who has hair on his face. The song, "This is Me", is really the anthem of the story, but at the same time, I don't think they really address everything. It was quickly solved once they sung the song even though Barnum decided to go on tour with Jenny Lind, who is completely opposite from everything the circus stands for.

The story between Philip Carlyle and Anne Wheeler is beautiful. Though to me the entire time I felt like the movie was trying to address social class. With him coming from a wealthy family, and her being part of the circus act. It didn't necessarily occur to me what was keeping them from being together was due to their skin colour. Then I have to realize that this is set in the 1800's and skin colour would definitely prevent them from being together. I felt like there was more that could have been explored or just exactly why Anne was having reservations of being together would be.

The songs are prerecorded. The actress who plays Jenny Lind is not singing the song. They did this with the actor who plays younger P.T. Barnum as well. I'm not sure why there would have been a problem with putting those actors into the screen. For Jenny Lind, maybe the singer can not provide the emotional chemistry she has with P.T. Barnum? I'm not too sure. I read somewhere that the actors were still singing along with the track so that they can convey their emotions.

Even with my criticisms, I enjoyed the movie a lot. I am still listening to the soundtrack. If you're looking for a fun movie, and not really care about the obvious problems with the movie, then you should definitely check out this movie. Hugh Jackman really is the star of this show. You can tell from the movie that everyone is really dedicated to their roles. Also my favourite times are when the circle performers are together. I'll most likely rewatch this at some point.
I'll also probably buy the Blu-ray because I want to see the behind the scenes footage.

Rating: 8.5/10