The Greatest Showman Reviews- Page 4

[Babe_Williams]

Posted: 12/27/17 at 10:25pm

I really enjoyed this movie. It was just fun and I walked out with a smile on my face. Everyone I know who saw this enjoyed it (and these are mostly non theater people). I think the songs are catchy, I immediately downloaded the soundtrack from Spotify. You can't say enough about how talented Hugh Jackman and the rest of the cast is. There were a few parts that were odd, including Never Enough being the opera singer's song, but I liked the song. 

Updated On: 12/28/17 at 10:25 PM

[greenifyme2]

Posted: 12/27/17 at 10:54pm

I also enjoyed it. After all of the complaints, I was expecting Barnum to be painted in a much more positive light, but He was a jerk in the movie too. And the ‘happy’ ending is because it’s a movie.

The first 30 minutes were stunning. It fell a little too cheesy for me in places, but overall a solid 7/10. My mom loved it.

[greenifyme2]

Posted: 12/27/17 at 10:55pm

Updated On: 12/27/17 at 10:55 PM

[Jessetenny]

Posted: 12/28/17 at 6:56am

 I saw The Greatest Showman over the holidays and here are some quick thoughts

- Hugh Jackman is a star.

- Zac Efron is okay 

- Zendaya and Keala Settle are both scene stealers

- Michelle Williams gives a good performance

- Rebecca Ferguson gives a master class on lip-synching.

- The plot isn't thick enough, everything happens too quickly and there's not enough plot development.

- I love the score. This is Me is a standout. I love the song Never Enough, but for an opera singer, I don't think it fits.

- The production design and Cinematography are outstanding. 

- This belongs on Broadway instead of Film, with some plot added especially to the Zac & Zendaya relationship.

 

 

[Babe_Williams]

Posted: 12/28/17 at 9:19am

boonanas said: "I believe that this film has more entertainment value then La La Land... controversial.. I know."

Just to add to this---I liked LLL. I have the soundtrack and listen to it regularly. The orchestrations on it are beautiful. But I wonder how much of LLL's success has to do with it being a love letter to Hollywood and that reviewers and Oscar voters related to that much more than they would to a musical about a controversial topic like the circus. Also, I think more needs to be said about how TGS showing how much the Les Miz movie wasted Hugh Jackman's talent by having the actors sing live instead of from their prerecorded tracks. 

[The Other One]

Posted: 12/29/17 at 10:48am

Talk about The Greatest Showman is dying down, but this comment appeared in the NY Post's list of the year's worst films this morning and it gave me a laugh:

3. “The Greatest Showman” P.T. Barnum as Father Teresa

[SarahNYC2]

Posted: 12/29/17 at 1:58pm

Honestly I thought it was amazing. Hugh Jackman is one of the greatest performers of his time. If you are going for a documentary then you will hate it. But if you are going for to be entertained then you are going to love it. My 9 year old and I have not stopped listening to the soundtrack. It's replaced our constant playing of DEH. 

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 12/29/17 at 7:20pm

Finally caught this last night. There isn't a grade low enough to lower my expectations to that would have made this show enjoyable for me. I think this is exactly the kind of movie that gives movie musicals a bad name with much of the public. Facile, weightless, fake sentiments from the first frame to the last, generic songs with generic lyrics that could be shifted at will between any scene or character here. Sets that offered the absolute minimum of imagination paired with costumes that were abominations no matter WHAT period you finally decide to assign them to. (Clearly the gowns for Jenny Lind were borrowed from the latest Project Runway episode without a second's glance.)

Why, why, why would they take the great starting point of PT Barnum's life and those fabulous evocative periods and dumb them down to this dreck? The Greatest Mistake of the year.

Updated On: 12/29/17 at 07:20 PM

[Theatre Fan3]

Posted: 12/29/17 at 9:58pm

I realize that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I'm totally fine with that ... but it seems that some posters here have only one purpose in mind and that is to totally trash every aspect of the film .... I have a newsflash for you .... that attitude says more about YOU than it does about the movie.  If the movie were truly that bad from first frame to final credit I don't think there would be a single person applauding during a screening and leaving the theatre with  a smile on their face.  Maybe the film didn't live up to your "ideals" but you only make yourself look foolish by saying that it's complete garbage.

[dev101]

Posted: 12/30/17 at 10:59am

Do any of you think this will appear on broadway eventually?

[bk]

Posted: 12/30/17 at 11:50am

Theatre Fan3 said: "I realize that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I'm totally fine with that ... but it seems that some posters here have only one purpose in mind and that is to totally trash every aspect of the film .... I have a newsflash for you .... that attitude says more about YOU than it does about the movie. If the movie were truly that bad from first frame to final credit I don't think there would be a single person applauding during a screening and leaving the theatre with a smile on their face. Maybe the film didn't live up to your "ideals" but you only make yourself look foolish by saying that it's complete garbage."

But apparently you're not fine with their opinion, and that's fine as long as you're open about that.  As I said earlier, the negative posts are from people who've seen the film and don't like it.  It happens.  The positive posts are from people who've seen the film and love it.  It happens. And then, as always, there are the cheerleaders who insist that the people who don't like it have agendas or are terrible people.  It happens.  Every single time.  

 

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 12/30/17 at 3:03pm

"I have a newsflash for you .... that attitude says more about YOU than it does about the movie. "

Every opinion I post, positive OR negative, always says a lot about me, just as every opinion YOU post says a lot about you. I'm not automatically wrong, and you're not automatically right, just because many people in this thread may concur with you. Folks who have agreed with my posts in the past may indeed think that my negative review says a great deal about the merits of THE GREATEST SHOWMAN itself, and may choose to see it or skip it accordingly. Similarly, your rave review for it will be super-helpful to ME when I consider going to another film you write a rave for down the road. We all win.

[leighmiserables]

Posted: 12/30/17 at 3:21pm

dev101 said: "Do any of you think this will appear on broadway eventually?"

If it did, they'd need to make major changes to nearly every part of it (just last night I was trying to figure out how a potential stage production could make all the trapeze bits work). The mixed reviews probably won't help much with things, either. I would genuinely like to see a (very, very) revised version of it in the future though. Hopefully with some better music from P&P this time. 

[binau]

Posted: 12/30/17 at 3:45pm

Is it me or was the budget for this movie a little too high? (In terms of pure dollars spent not necessarily outcomes).

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 12/30/17 at 5:21pm

The budget was around $78 mill. That's pretty much in line and doesn't strike me as too odd. Don't understand what you mean by "outcomes," though. 

[mamaleh]

Posted: 12/30/17 at 8:11pm

“Father Theresa”? Hardly. The Post’s critic is entitled to his opinion. But I’m guessing he didn’t hear the Barnum character tell Charles (Tom Thumb) Stratton, “They’re gonna laugh at you anyway, kid. Might as well get paid for it.” Very canonical pronouncement, isn’t it? Or maybe the critic closed his eyes when Barnum, ashamed of his band of “unique persons,” shuts the door on them so as not to be embarrassed in front of New York’s social register. Or when he abandons them and his own familiy to further personal ambitions. Self-effacing actions indeed.

 In the film inspired by—and not strictly based on—the legendary showman, Barnum is often portrayed as an unfeeling jerk, even if his circus troupe ultimately forgive him. That major character flaw is made pretty obvious.

Updated On: 12/30/17 at 08:11 PM

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 12/30/17 at 8:20pm

God I haven't had this much fun at the movies in years. Loved every second, warts and all.

[Theatre Fan3]

Posted: 12/30/17 at 9:30pm

Someone in a Tree2 said: "Similarly, your rave review for it will be super-helpful to ME when I consider going to another film you write arave for down the road. We all win."

Hmmm, I don't recall putting anything even remotely to be considered a "rave review" for it in my previous post. (though I did, personally, enjoy it)  All I said was that a film that has members of the audience applauding after numbers and exiting the theatre smiling, can't be all bad.  In the end, what difference does it really make?  Those that enjoyed it had a good time ... and unfortunately, as with all films, there will always be those who don't ... but they may love the next film and we may not ... and this is the way it will always be.  :)

Updated On: 12/30/17 at 09:30 PM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/31/17 at 12:00am

Oh, no, it IS that bad.

 

I wanted to like it, was looking forward to it - even with the bad reviews and mixed word of mouth.  The whole thing was worse than being BAD.....it was simply boring.  The script, the music......zzzzzzz.   The man next to my son fell asleep.   

My show (Sat night, full house) had no mid-film applause....in fact, I kept wondering which song people had said it happened for, as nothing exhilarated me to even consider applause.  There was a quiet smattering of applause at the end, but overall it was quiet exiting.

My daughter, and a friend of hers both enjoyed it, my son and I were simply bored.  

And while I'm right, that doesn't imply that my opinion is absolute.  You liked it?  Good.  I did not ...and that's ok, too.

Updated On: 12/31/17 at 12:00 AM

[bk]

Posted: 12/31/17 at 1:36am

dramamama611 said: "Oh, no, it IS that bad.



I wanted to like it, was looking forward to it - even with the bad reviews and mixed word of mouth. The whole thing was worse than being BAD.....it was simply boring. The script, the music......zzzzzzz. The man next to my son fell asleep.

My show (Sat night, full house) had no mid-film applause....in fact, I kept wondering which song people had said it happened for, as nothing exhilarated me to even consider applause. There was a quiet smattering of applause at the end, but overall it was quiet exiting.

My daughter, and a friend of hers both enjoyed it, my son and I were simply bored.

And while I'm write, that doesn't imply that my opinion is absolute. You liked it? Good. I did not ...and that's ok, too."

Regarding all this hoohaw about mid-movie applause - once again, this happens with every movie musical no matter how terrible - it happened with Last Five Years, it happened with Lucky Stiff - musical theater cheerleaders do that - it's what they do.  Every single time.  It is meaningless.

 

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 12/31/17 at 3:17am

Theatre Fan3 said: "I realize that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I'm totally fine with that ... but it seems that some posters here have only one purpose in mind and that is to totally trash every aspect of the film .... I have a newsflash for you .... that attitude says more about YOU than it does about the movie. If the movie were truly that bad from first frame to final credit I don't think there would be a single person applauding during a screening and leaving the theatre with a smile on their face. Maybe the film didn't live up to your "ideals" but you only make yourself look foolish by saying that it's complete garbage."

Thanks for giving us a perfect explanation of ad hominem. 

[binau]

Posted: 12/31/17 at 6:29am

I just wonder if it's a matter of perspective - if you walk into Spongebob Squarepants expecting a Pulitzer Prize winning show you're going to be disappointed. And I guess with this film I can see why you might have reasonable expectations given the cast, composers and subject matter opening at oscar bait time. But if you lower them to acknowledge this audience-flick has been carefully designed to appeal to the lowest common denominators of musical fans, you might have a good time. Yes, you're going to get a derivative story with cliche themes and a score that is incredibly brief with no attempt even made to suit the time period or characters at all. But on the other hand, you get a bunch of decent performances, catchy (and sometimes moving) tunes, some impressive choreography a feel-good journey to watch the rise, fall and rise of the lead character/family and misfits. I don't regret paying $10 for this.

[Bwayfan292]

Posted: 12/31/17 at 4:33pm

I was looking foward to this and caught it
Last night. For me, hands down worst movie i saw of the year. I was pretty bummed out but every song section felt auto tuned and forced, which i know its a musical but still. Also i had zero connection with any of the characters and sidnt care what happend to them. Overall, very dissponting. But if you enjoyed it then good for you! I hope you had a great time at the theatre, this just wasnt my cup of tea.

[Babe_Williams]

Posted: 12/31/17 at 9:27pm

Has anyone else watched these read through videos?

https://youtu.be/XLFEvHWD_NE

https://youtu.be/PluaPvhkIMU

What an amazing labor of love this show was. The passion and talent of the cast. It’s infectious.

[Alexander Lamar]

Posted: 12/31/17 at 10:01pm

Saw this today. Pretty bad, but I am puzzled that so many are listing this as the worst of the year when “mother!” is one of the worst movies of all time.

Anyway, a few thoughts....

-The plot was just too thin, stuff happened to fast to be believable.

- The music was OK, but better than the script.

-I know I’m in the minority, but I think Hugh is just a serviceable singer; I really hope he is done with musicals.

-The song for the opera singer character was a real let down. For them to have talked up her voice so much, the song was terrible. During the scene at her first concert I kept wanting Keala to somehow take over and become the star.

-Was Zac Efron “Bailey”? If so, why wasn’t that name mentioned at all?