The Greatest Showman (2018)

ChristinaMarie
Jan 19, 2018
4 min read

I have been meaning to see this movie for quite some time now but have not had the chance either due to a lack of funds or time. But finally, my roommate and I went to go see The Greatest Showman in theaters!

Ever since I first saw the trailer for this movie I have been wanting to see the movie. Rarely these days do trailers actually make me want to see a movie. For some reason they have stopped telling you what the movie will be about. All you are shown is usually completely random scenes. The best example of this would be when Rise of the Guardians was first showing its trailers. I thought the movie looked stupid because all it would show was them talking about needing to protect the children and it showed the four guardians, nothing about Jack Frost. For the longest time I felt no desire to see the movie until they finally released a trailer that actually told us what the movie was going to be about - Jack Frost. The sad things is, if they had never released that trailer I would never have gone to see the movie, and Rise of the Guardians is one of my favorite movies! It would have been such a great loss on my part.

The Greatest Showman did not leave me wanting when it came to the trailer. It showed just enough to leave you entranced and wanting more, which is what, to me, a trailer should do.

Obviously if you have not figured it out at this point, there will be spoilers throughout this blog post. I will attempt not to spoil the entire movie, but it would be impossible for me to review a movie in any way without giving away any of the plot.

The opening to the movie was perfect! I was instantly thrilled and felt drawn into the music. The dramatic opening made me feel pumped up for what was to come. Plus, how can you go wrong with Hugh Jackman? Personally I feel his voice is underrated. He has an excellent musical theater voice!

I loved how we got to see the romance between Barnum and Charity throughout their entire childhood until they are grown up. Especially once Barnum loses his father and is forced to live on the streets until an opportunity for a job comes his way and he is able to get up onto his own two feet. Before continuing on, I have to give props to the actor who played Barnum, Ellis Rubin, his voice was positively amazing! Needless to say I was completely pleased with the entire casting, every single one of the actors/actresses could actually sing!

What surprised me the most was the fact that I really enjoyed Zac Efron’s acting. I never watched High School Musical because, honestly, I thought it looked stupid. So, my initial impression of Zac Efron was the fact that he was the heart-throb from a rather annoying franchise, therefore, I never really liked him. But his acting and singing was actually of good quality. And the scene where he and Anne Wheeler have their duet, “Rewrite the Stars,” is one of my absolute favorites!

On a negative note, there is one part I did not like. There is a very good reason that I do tend to watch romance movies. I hate when there is an uninvolved female wanting the attention of a married man. Like, are you serious? He’s happily married with two kids, back off! Women are so annoying when they are jealous, so I really can’t stand when I’m watching a romance and there will be some kind of female competition because women are so vindictive and manipulative when they are trying to get a man that is not theirs. So, when the singer played by Rabecca Furgeson tries to get Barnum and he declines her affections, which angers her causing her to purposefully stage a kiss with him in front of cameras… Let’s just say I was very angry. However, on a positive note, it did not last long. Charity ends of leaving Barnum and takes their two daughters with her. After a very catchy song filled with Barnum’s circus family setting him on the right path he goes to Charity’s parents house where she is staying and apologizes to her, therefore, winning her back. So, while the entire situation may have been very annoying, it did not last long thankfully.

Lastly, I have to give props to the choreographers! The amount of work the actors had to put into memorizing the choreography definitely paid off! Each musical number was filled with amazing and witty dancing that made me want to get up and join them. Which, unfortunately, would not go over well in a theater. And of course, we cannot forget the composers: Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Every song was wonderful and I loved every single one of them. I do have my personal favorites, and every song may have different but they were all equally catchy. Let’s just say, I left the theater singing.

All in all I was very pleased with the direction this movie took. Musicals have always been one of my favorites to watch, and this one blew me away and did not have a single boring moment. I would highly recommend this move to people of all ages!