Every year I’ve seen a movie on Boxing Day and this year was no exception as I headed to Cineworld to check out Hugh Jackman in The Greatest Showman.
The movie is inspired by the imagination of P. T. Barnum, The Greatest Showman is an original musical that brings us the story of the birth of show business & tells of a visionary played by Hugh Jackman who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation.
Directed by first time director, Michael Gracey and starring Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables, Logan) as P. T. Barnum, Michelle Williams (Manchester By The Sea) as Charity Barnum, Zac Efron (Baywatch, High School Musical), Rebecca Ferguson (Life, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation) as Jenny Lind and Zendaya (Spider-man: Homecoming) as Anne Wheeler.
So first of all, I have to say I never used to a big fan of musicals, although in recent years I’ve been moving towards these genres of movies, with the brilliant La La Land pulling me in deeper to this magical movie genre, so when I saw the trailer for The Greatest Showman I was rather intrigued to see this one, a movie that with its look, kind of reminded me of Moulin Rouge.
The Greatest Showman starts as it means to go on with a fantastic musical opener that pulls you into the world of Barnum and the delights of the big top, then it takes you back to a young Barnum and the poverty that his father and he had to endure.
The movie is packed with songs that certainly had my toes tapping throughout the movie, the majority of the music is very up-tempo and gives you that uplifting feeling, the superb songs were written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the Academy Award-winning lyricists of La La Land and they have certainly brought us songs you can sing along to, a soundtrack that many will be going out to buy after seeing the movie.
As with any story such as this, there is the love interest and this is brought to us from the start of the film with the ups and downs of Barnum’s life as he tries to give his wife the life he promised her and to her father, as he rises to the top there is always bound to be that inevitable tumble down.
Michael Gracey first outing into directing is very nicely done, he has brought a unique style to the movie, the set pieces of musical numbers and dance sequences are a joy to watch. Although there may not be that much of a story in The Greatest Showman, what there is comes together well with the routines that knit the production together.
The movie also looks great, the lighting and colour palettes of the film, give you the look of the 1800s but with a modern feel, the costumes look great, the surround sound works very well throughout the movie, look out for the crowd scenes and party scenes as the voices of the guests etc can be heard from all the speakers in the cinema, giving you the feeling of being in the middle of the events that are happening.
As I mentioned earlier I’m starting to enjoy musicals more and more recently, The Greatest Showman was a joy to watch, it’s certainly a film that I would go see again, very much like La La Land, this is a movie that will have you laughing, crying and tapping your feet along to the songs and enjoying yourself from start to finish.
The Greatest Showman Trailer
The Greatest Showman is in cinemas now.
Jackman shows off his musical talents
Movie title: The Greatest Showman
Movie description: Celebrates the birth of show business and tells of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation.
Date published: December 26, 2017
Country: UK
Duration: 1h 45min
Director(s): Michael Gracey
Actor(s): Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, Zac Efron
Genre: Drama, Musical
Summary
The Greatest Showman is an enjoyable movie that not only has great songs, it also has some great cast that holds the film together.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
