The Greatest Showman Review – Spoiler Free
The Greatest Showman is a film which comes directed by Michael Gracey and stars Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, Zac Efron, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson and Austyn Johnson.
The film is about the story of P.T. Barnum who is a historical figure, known for his work in show business as a great entertainer. P.T. Barnum is a person who I would describe as a self made man and the story of the film follows the journey he undertook in order to become the successful person he is known to be.
As a story, The Greatest Showman is actually a little inspiring, it’s a good film to watch for those who are interested in starting their own business or just wanting to do something different in the world, that maybe others don’t appreciate too much. The film is filled with themes of success and also status.
Barnum wasn’t born rich and his entertainment shows are basically circuses. But the man has a strong drive to succeed and his persistence is much to be admired. Although as he becomes more successful with his show as it goes on, there’s much criticism from people who are from the ‘artsy’ side of show business who look down on Barnum and the rest of his entertainers as trash compared to their ‘artsy’ shows. Barnum as a character is a person sort of torn between his own success and also trying to get recognition from stuck up people who are probably just jealous (because he makes so much money) and they won’t accept him properly in their social circles (because they think they’re better).
I actually quite enjoyed the film the film. Barnum was an interesting character to get to know and so too were the others who appeared in the story. Social classes where the rich people look down on those of lower social classes (Barnum was a Tailor’s son) is something that even today is still common. I don’t want to spoil the ending or much of the plot, but in the end of The Greatest Showman there is a nice meaning to everything that happens and I found myself feeling quite happy with the experience.
Being a musical, there’s a lot of songs you’ll have to sit through. If you’re in a cinema watching this though, I think that it’s actually the best place to be. Hearing the songs sung loudly and the beat of the music played in those large speakers was a joy. Watching this film you’ll enjoy it a lot if you’re into these types of films, but if you’re not too into muscials, you’ll likely enjoy it a bit less. I’m probably a person in between, I don’t really like musicals all that much and don’t have any films from the genre that I like to re-watch. But to watch them once, I do like them and I was not at all disappointed with The Greatest Showman, in fact, I was very impressed with it all.
The actors all do some fine work, I enjoyed Hugh Jackman more than the others. He seems to have really put in some hard work into his character and it certainly showed. Zac Efron was entertaining and so too was Zendaya.
Costumes were all excellent. Being a film about basically setting up a circus, there’s a lot of creativity put into the outfits that the characters wear and the whole thing is very colourful. The sets also looked quite good and similarly to the costumes, they too were filled with colour.
Michael Gracey who directed the film did a fine job balancing the tone for the experience. It’s an uplifting film with a positive tone. The pacing is good and although it’s only 1 hour and 45 minutes long, it doesn’t feel slow or too fast either. As one of the first films from this director, I think he’s done a good job with it and I don’t really have any complaints. Both the dramatic scenes and also the performance scenes were well shot.
Overall The Greatest Showman is one of the finest musicals I’ve seen. The Story of P.T. Barnum is an interesting one and the film is a uplifting and positive experience. Hugh Jackman puts in a great performance and the other actors in the film are all great too. Costumes and sets all look great and are full of colour. If you’re looking for some light entertainment and a film filled with song and dance, then this might just be the film for you to see this weekend.
