The Greatest Showman: Review

• This is a NON-Spoiler review for The Greatest Showman. Zac Efron in another musical.........what could go wrong?

• Plot Summary: "Inspired by the imagination of P. T. Barnum, The Greatest Showman is an original musical that celebrates the birth of show business & tells of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation."

• If you saw this movie and liked it, continue reading at your own risk. For me personally, Most of the time I'm not a fan of hearing a negative opinion of a movie after seeing one that I love. I think everyone has the right to voice their own opinion. It's just that sometimes it sours the magical experience that someone may have had in the theater. So obviously my opinion of this movie is not very positive. But if you liked it, please just continue enjoying it. So let's get into the movie.

• I am a very big fan of Hugh Jackman. If he doesn't get nominated for Logan, I'm gonna be offended. And unlike lots of people, I love musicals. Singin' in the Rain and La La Land are both some of my favorite movies. My family and I have gone to see a musical for the last three Christmases. On Christmas 2015, we saw Into the Woods which I really enjoyed. And then the next year was La La Land which is one of my favorite movies of all time. And for Christmas 2017, we saw The Greatest Showman. And I'm not a very big fan of this movie.

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• In my opinion, most of the actors do well in their roles. And all the choreography is great. And if you're looking for a light-hearted and positive musical, then I think you should give this a shot. I saw this movie with 10 of my family members, and 3 of us weren't impressed by the movie including me. So by those odds, there is a 7 out of 10 shot that you will like this movie. But if you find yourself agreeing with my opinions in my reviews, you may be more likely to not be into this movie. I think this is a good movie for families to go and check out. It has a very positive theme and good music. But I'm going to talk about my experience with this movie. I was bored with this movie.

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• I don't think this is a very well written movie. Every single bit of depth is skimmed over in a song. Here's how I define musicals - To me, a musical number should be used to emphasize the feelings of the characters in the film in a fantasy way. It's about completely diving into the psychology of the character in a non-realistic form. I don't like it when a musical treats a musical number like it's actually happening. I don't like when you come back to reality and a character will essentially break the fourth wall and say "Sorry I was just singing while walking down the street" unless it's a spoof comedy. I think Damien Chazelle understood that and masterfully directed La La Land while following those rules. This movie uses the musical numbers to establish the feelings of the characters. Hugh Jackman and Michelle Williams fall in love and get married with saying a non-musical word on the screen. Unless it's an amazingly written song, I don't feel the connection if it's not dialogue. This movie establishes relationship and depth through music. And for me, that doesn't work. That's why to me, there wasn't very much character development. For example, ‪Zendaya‬ and Zac Efron fall in love.......because their both good looking is the only reason I can think of. The only scene that the movie has to attempt to make you connect with this relationship is a musical number.

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• And in my opinion, I think another goal you should have when making a musical is to have your audience humming and tapping their feet to the music. I think it should be catchy. I couldn't stop whistling City of Stars coming out of La La Land. And I personally didn't have any song stuck in my head coming out of The Greatest Showman. And honestly, I later found myself rolling my eyes whenever someone broke into song. It's like a 50/50 ratio of screen time that is musical vs non-musical. And a lot of the songs are too long and are very strangely placed in my opinion. This movie sorta becomes one of P.T. Barnum's shows. It just becomes a series of dances without a real story. I'd rather watch an actual circus.

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• And to talk more about the writing, conflicts are solved really easily in this movie. Conflict is the main thing you want to find as a screenwriter. Conflict is what gets the audience invested. Nobody likes to solve an easy puzzle. I think an audience likes to watch a challenge. Aaron Sorkin (the screenwriter of Steve Jobs, The Social Network, The West Wing, Molly's Game, A Few Good Men) has a really good quote about conflict. I'm paraphrasing - "If you have a kid going to his parents and saying 'Hey Mom! Dad! I need money.' You really don't want the response to be 'Sure. How much?" I don't think any audience is going to feel satisfied if everything just comes easily to your characters. And I personally didn't feel a real connection any story beats or the characters. So if I were going back in time to give my younger self a recommendation for this movie, I'd tell myself that I could probably just wait until it's on Netflix or just listen to the soundtrack. But again, 7 out of 10 people that I saw this with loved this movie. But my personal grade for ‪The Greatest Showman‬ is a C+