The Greatest Showman Reviews
The Greatest Showman Reviews
#2This film critic gave zero F**** about the embargo
Posted: 12/19/17 at 8:34pm
Another....
MOVIE REVIEW: Just How Great IS “The Greatest Showman?”
I had several snarky thoughts when I first saw the trailer for The Greatest Showman.
Things like:
-I think I preferred this movie when it was called Moulin Rouge.
-Isn’t Hugh Jackman a little old to be playing Michelle Williams’ husband?
-Really??? Another slow-motion shot of a hot-chick dangling from the ceiling???
You get the point.
See, I have to sit through a ton of movies and I’m afraid that, after a while, many of them start to look the same.
I even warned my daughters to “keep your expectations low” when we sat down to watch The Greatest Showman, and then prepared myself to be sufficiently underwhelmed.
Man…was I wrong.
The Greatest Showman is inspired by the life of circus creator and father of modern show-biz, P.T. Barnum (played by an unstoppable Hugh Jackman). Michelle Williams is his supportive wife Charity, Zac Efron is his partner Phillip Carlyle, and Zendaya is the trapeze-artist Carlyle scandalously falls for. Those two have terrific chemistry, but it’s hard to beat the electricity generated when Efron and Hugh Jackman share the screen. One of the best scenes in the whole picture is when Barnum talks Carlyle into joining the circus, and they try to out-dance each other. I just might have been stomping my feet along with them.
This is the first time out for director Michael Gracey, but he made the spot-on decision to turn The Greatest Showman into a modern-musical, opting for pop-songs over tunes from the 1800’s. He also had the forethought to hire songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, long before they won a Tony for Dear Evan Hansen and then a Golden Globe AND an Oscar for La La Land. Pasek and Paul crafted eleven original songs for The Greatest Showman, each more emotional than the last. Broadway star Keala Settle almost runs away with the whole movie when her Bearded Lady sings This is Me. Honestly, I cried so hard through that one, I was struggling to catch my breath.
The Greatest Showman might feel a little predictable and twee at times, but the emotions are so raw and authentic, you probably won’t care. It’s also rated PG, so it’s one you can share with kids of any age. My own daughters (ages 10 and 13) see almost as many movies as I do, and are strangely even more cynical. Even THEY were pulled into the music and magic of The Greatest Showman. It’s the perfect film to enjoy with your whole family over the holidays, and that’s coming from someone who hates musicals.
No, I wasn’t looking forward to The Greatest Showman and I was fully prepared for disappointment…but sometimes it feels GOOD to be WRONG. (A+)
RippedMan
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/05
#3This film critic gave zero F**** about the embargo
Posted: 12/19/17 at 8:34pmWow that was amazing! I found all the music I’ve heard to be insanely cheesy. It’s basically Finding Nederland. Bland pop music sung by historic people.
#4This film critic gave zero F**** about the embargo
Posted: 12/19/17 at 8:35pm
Another...
ARNOLD WAYNE JONES | Executive Editor
jones@dallasvoice.com
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If you want the thrill of a new film discovery akin to previous Star Wars episodes, you couldn’t do much better than The Greatest Showman. I confess going into this film without many expectations: A biopic about P.T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman), who arguably invented not only the modern circus, but the entire idea that any publicity is good publicity, and that if you give the people what they want — to be amazed — the truth can always take a backseat. I imagined how it would play out, with rags-to-riches predictability, megalomania that torpedoes his personal relationships, confidence when the naysayers shot him down on his way to eventually immortality.
That’s exactly how the plot shakes out.
But what surprised, delighted and thrilled me was the way it was told. This is a newfangled musical of the highest order — colorful, exciting, chock full of terrific songs and eye-popping choreography. I just loved it.
It’s not often you feel the desire to get all gooey-lovey-dovey about a movie, but if you’re going to, a musical is the way to go. The songs are by Justin Paul and Benj Pasek, the duo responsible for the lyrics to last year’s La La Land as well as the Tony darling Dear Evan Hansen, and they are infectiously fun as well as emotionally rich and plot-driving. You leave the moviehouse with a whistle in your head and a skip in your step.
A lot of that falls in the lap of Hugh Jackman. Jackman is probably the only legit movie star today who is perfectly at ease in the flamboyantly open-hearted genre of song-and-dance musicals. He’s got the chops: A Tony for The Boy from Oz, a Oscar nomination for Les Miz; his big break was on the London stage playing Curly in Oklahoma. He’s talented and guileless, and he doesn’t so much show off as embody the musicality of his character. From the first shot — his silhouette in a dramatic pose, with the score grabbing you with its first notes — the director, newcomer Michael Gracey, projects his aesthetic: Let the showmanship speak for itself. Unlike La La Land — a kind of post-modern take on the nouvelle vague movie musicals of Jacques Demy, populated with capable actors who sing and dance, but who aren’t really “singer-dancers” — The Greatest Showman luxuriates in its widescreen showboating and frenetic editing. It’s much closer in tone to Moulin Rouge, or even the winsome, animated musical Sing!, than La La Land or Chicago. It wears its heart on its sleeve.
But for all the credit rightly heaped on Jackman, the rest of the cast sells this show. The “freaks” in Barnum’s show are mostly in the background, but impressively developed as individuals, especially the stupendous Keala Settle as the Bearded Lady. Michelle Williams not only sings like an angel, she transitions flawlessly from happily poor helpmate to patrician, sad rich wife. Zac Efron, who has his own legitimacy with musicals, plays Barnum’s business partner; theirs number set in a bar, where Jackman convinces Efron to join him in this fantastical enterprise, is a brilliantly staged and edited sequence. (One of the film’s editors, Tom Cross, also did La La Land.) And Rebecca Ferguson as the “Swedish nightingale” Jenny Lind wows you in her introductory number.
The song she sings, of course, isn’t from the canon of 19th century coloratura, but a contemporary, elaborately orchestrated number — the kind Celine Dion might open a show with today, not an opera star from 150 years ago. But that fits in with the Baz Luhrmann-esque ethos of the movie. It speaks in modern idioms to adequately convey the experience of an age long past.
Indeed, the legacy of Barnum is at its lowest ebb ever; the show he created, which became the Ringling Bros./Barnum & Bailey Circus, shuttered its tent forever earlier this year, its treatment of animals seen as incompatible with 21st century progressivity. But The Greatest Showman doesn’t occupy itself with such social hot potatoes. Instead, it concentrates on the celebratory nature of humankind’s diversity, the groundbreaking development of entertainment. Maybe I’m a sucker, but that enchants me.
The Last Jedi now playing in wide release. The Greatest Showman opens wide on Dec. 20.
kyle4
Leading Actor Joined: 10/9/10
#5This film critic gave zero F**** about the embargo
Posted: 12/19/17 at 8:36pm
this is a VERY ACCURATE REVIEW... (EDITED: the FIRST REVIEW ON HERE!)
and it made me LAUGH... because i literally did CRINGE and watch some of it THROUGH MY FINGERS...
the songs were RELENTLESS and GENERIC...
when ZAC EFRON climbs up to a balcony and LEAPS OUT UPON his TWIRLING/TRAPEZE-ING 'object of affection"... i LAUGHED OUT LOUD !!!
imagine if he had leaped a moment too soon.. or too late !!!
a VERY OFF film...
WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO KNOW?!!!!!
Updated On: 12/19/17 at 08:36 PM
#9This film critic gave zero F**** about the embargo
Posted: 12/20/17 at 12:21am
Positive...barely
https://rogersmovienation.com/2017/12/20/movie-review-hugh-jackman-is-the-greatest-showman/
bk
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/03
#10This film critic gave zero F**** about the embargo
Posted: 12/20/17 at 2:14am
Just curious if it's really necessary to post blogs as "reviews."
#11This film critic gave zero F**** about the embargo
Posted: 12/20/17 at 3:18am
At which point did anyone think this was going to be good, I mean I used to love Jackman. But he’s became a bit of a hammy actor of late
Well I didn't want to get into it, but he's a Satanist.
Every full moon he sacrifices 4 puppies to the Dark Lord and smears their blood on his paino.
This should help you understand the score for Wicked a little bit more.
Tazber's: Reply to
Is Stephen Schwartz a Practicing Christian
pdjennings
Stand-by Joined: 2/3/06
MrsSallyAdams
Broadway Star Joined: 11/12/13
#13The Greatest Showman reviews
Posted: 12/20/17 at 9:06am
Some critics mock the films sunny attitude and lack of conflict. Others find it offensive:
Slant Review. Negative.
This revisionist hagiography plays like an Ayn Randian tribute to good old-fashioned ingenuity and hard work, where Barnum is the John Galt single-handedly holding the nascent showbiz world upon his shoulders and everyone from his wife to his employees exists either to support him or to get out of his way. Although the film appears to be constructed as a showpiece for Jackman’s song-and-dance skills, its spectacle is overshadowed by its archaic and misguided notions of American exceptionalism.
https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/the-greatest-showman
Vanity Fair. Negative.
But to position Barnum as some sort of egalitarian hero, and to trot out the hollow, mawkish “This Is Me” anthem over and over again in the marketing campaign when none of the characters supposedly being ennobled in the song have any real story or texture in the actual film, is a really crass appropriation of the current political moment...
all my general affection for a musical trying to make it in the world can’t quite cover up the stink of what I think is lying at the heart of this film. It’s all a bit meta, a faux-inspirational movie about a trickster showman accidentally serving as commentary on the faux-inspiration industry. Or maybe it’s not an accident at all. Maybe the movie is a Prince of Humbug itself, showing us something shiny while figuring us all suckers.
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/12/the-greatest-showman-review
threepanelmusicals.blogspot.com
#14This film critic gave zero F**** about the embargo
Posted: 12/20/17 at 9:07am
All I know from this movie (why isn't this on the off topic board anyway?) is the extended and somehow enervating trailer, which resembles nothing so much as the usual Luhrmannesque variety of lunch meat thrown at a wall. And it's not even a Luhrmann project.
BroadwayConcierge
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/24/15
#15This film critic gave zero F**** about the embargo
Posted: 12/20/17 at 9:15am
Well, that's one less thing for me to see over my holiday break.
#16This film critic gave zero F**** about the embargo
Posted: 12/20/17 at 10:46am
40% on Rotten Tomatoes. There's a reason why reviews were embargoed until opening day.
"Oh look at the time, three more intelligent plays just closed and THE ADDAMS FAMILY made another million dollars" -Jackie Hoffman, Broadway.com Audience Awards
#17This film critic gave zero F**** about the embargo
Posted: 12/20/17 at 10:55am
Saw it on Monday. It's enjoyably terrible. No storyline goes anywhere. With the exceptions of Michelle Williams and Keala Settle, the cast is either terrible or just barely getting through the material. Williams and Settle manage to elevate the schlock they're given. The songs all sound the same (well--they're divided into upbeat songs that sound the same and moody songs that sounds the same)--and I really enjoyed Pasek and Paul's work on Dogfight and Dear Evan Hansen. But most importantly, there is no consistent dramatic arc. The movie has about seven ideas of what story it wants to tell, and in the end, it doesn't really land any of them.
Although it's true--the aerial scene between Zac Efron and Zendaya is hilariously horrible. It's the moment when the movie is no longer content to defy logic so steps it up by defying physics.
Cringingly bad, but kind of so bad it's a delight in its own way.
#18This film critic gave zero F**** about the embargo
Posted: 12/20/17 at 11:07am
newintown said: "All I know from this movie (why isn't this on the off topic board anyway?) is the extended and somehow enervating trailer, which resembles nothing so much as the usual Luhrmannesquevariety of lunch meat thrown at a wall. And it's not even a Luhrmann project."
And I'm not a fan of Baz Luhrmann's at all. Every single film I've seen of his has been all style, but no substance.
Princeton2
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/1/08
#19This film critic gave zero F**** about the embargo
Posted: 12/20/17 at 12:01pm
rosscoe(au) said: "At which point did anyone think this was going to be good, I mean I used to love Jackman. But he’s became a bit of a hammy actor of late"
Of late? I'd say he has been all along. His history of movies away from the xmen franchise isn' stellar either.
He comes across as a great guy in person in interviews etc but I really don't think he is that talented an actor
rattleNwoolypenguin
Broadway Star Joined: 10/11/11
#20This film critic gave zero F**** about the embargo
Posted: 12/20/17 at 12:24pm
Pasek and Paul have a chance to write songs for an original movie musical
and they churn out a whole bunch of derivative pop anthems.
Harmonically and accompaniment wise and lyrically this is Diet Pasek and Paul. All of their Jason Robert Brown and Sondheim influence traded for Katy Perry or Billboard charting drek.
Bleah.
mc1227
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/07
#21This film critic gave zero F**** about the embargo
Posted: 12/20/17 at 12:58pm
Much like A Christmas Story Live, you’re going to find more negative reviews on filmed musicals than any other type of movie. It’s amazing how they can critique everything imaginable but Iron Man, Superman, Batman etc keeps getting cranked out of Holkywood for $$$. So, when something like this comes out, I don’t care if someone’s voice is thin, an actor stumbles on a word, the production numbers are overdone. I am happy there is a movie out that I can watch and appreciate the attempt to recreate a stage production. There are so many people who never get the chance to travel to NYC or the West End to see a live musical theater. It doesn’t matter what the reviewers say, they will still get my $20.
The only review of a show that matters is your own.
#22This film critic gave zero F**** about the embargo
Posted: 12/20/17 at 1:05pm
"It’s amazing how they can critique everything imaginable but Iron Man, Superman, Batman etc keeps getting cranked out of Holkywood [sic] for $$$."
Perhaps because those are the films that the masses shell out millions of dollars to see?
#23This film critic gave zero F**** about the embargo
Posted: 12/20/17 at 1:06pm
But the critiques aren't about things like that. Most of them are raising rather substantial criticisms with the very core of the movie itself and how it approaches its subject matter- not exactly a trifling thing.
And correct me if I'm wrong, but high profile modern movie musicals seem to have been doing pretty well with critics and getting a pretty fair shake (duds like Jersey Boys and Nine were disliked by audiences and critic alike).
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
Updated On: 12/20/17 at 01:06 PM
#24This film critic gave zero F**** about the embargo
Posted: 12/20/17 at 2:35pm
rattleNwoolypenguin said: "Pasek and Paul have a chance to write songs for an original movie musical
and they churn out a whole bunch of derivative pop anthems.
Harmonically and accompaniment wise and lyrically this is Diet Pasek and Paul. All of their Jason Robert Brown and Sondheim influence traded for Katy Perry or Billboard charting drek.
Bleah."
You just described every song on the DEH recording.
That said, I will still go see this. It looks like light entertainment and fun.
#25This film critic gave zero F**** about the embargo
Posted: 12/20/17 at 2:39pm
mc1227 said: "So, when something like this comes out, I don’t care if someone’s voice is thin, an actor stumbles on a word, the production numbers are overdone. I am happy there is a movie out that I can watch and appreciate the attempt to recreate a stage production."
But do you care if it's AWFUL? Yes, most movie musicals that have come out in the past ten years have been highly criticized. They've also been largely awful--the terrible Nine and Jersey Boys movies were already cited. There have also been the hideous Les Mis and Phantom movies. I may be alone on a limb here, but I also despised La La Land. But my point is that I'd rather audiences not get the impression that musicals are terrible by going to really dreadful film musicals. There have been exceptions--Dreamgirls, Chicago, Hairspray--and those movies were justifiably praised. I LOVE a good movie musical. But The Greatest Showman isn't one. It's the worst excesses of Baz Luhrman mixed with a personal worst score from Pasek and Paul (by a mile) and a script that is an atrocity. Support musical movies, sure. But support the good ones.
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