QR Film Review: The Greatest Showman

With it being a new year, you might be thinking of heading to the cinema with a few more days with extra free time to see a movie. One of the most hyped releases of the season must be ‘The Greatest Showman’ directed by Michael Gracey. With a stellar cast including frontman Hugh Jackman and protégé Zac Efron, it was a movie I was very much looking forward to see.

Inspired by the real-life story of P.T. Barnum (Jackman) and the creation of his circus, the film focuses on themes of discrimination and prejudice, as well as ambition, romance and the true meaning of happiness. Unfortunately, despite all the right ingredients I found the film somewhat lacking overall. There’s no denying how beautiful it looks on screen – the colours used are vibrant and eye-catching with particular help from the costumes. The sets are also phenomenal and serve as a great canvas for the actors to play against. The main problem seems to stem from the disjointedness of the storyline. While having a large ensemble cast is typical of a musical, there were too many separate storylines happening at once to really connect with any of the characters. The main exception to this might be the love story between Barnum’s business partner Philip Carlyle (Efron) and trapeze artist Anne Wheeler (Zendaya), but without a sufficient amount of time to invest in its development it still leaves the audience disappointed in my opinion. With little investment in the outcome of any one of the characters’ arcs, the movie tended to drag along.

In terms of the score, a key aspect of any musical, it also falls weak. Jackman doesn’t automatically spring to mind as someone with a great singing voice, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he couldn’t perform well. The tracks themselves seemed tuneless and repetitive, making him appear a lot worse than he was. This was also echoed in Efron’s numbers – surprising, as we all know what a great voice he has. Without this element to lift the movie, it only served as a further disappointment.

The performances by the cast were high quality and well delivered, but without one good storyline or song to tie it all together, ‘The Greatest Showman’ was simply something pretty to look at.

Length: 2 hrs 19 mins

Director: Micheal Gracey

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya

Rating: 2 out of 5

By Ellie Lawlor