So, I somehow just found out that this movie features the lyricists from La La Land. No wonder I found myself singing along to the music after the film. This movie marks the newest musical in theatres, the first for Hugh Jackman since Les Miserables, and the first for Zac Efron since the all time classic trilogy, High School Musical.
This movie follows the life of Phineas Taylor Barnum, more commonly known as P.T., a poor man that marries a rich girl despite her disapproving parents. Flash forward several years and P.T. has married the rich girl and is now the father of two children. Barnum is fired from his job and upset by the fact that he can't give his family the life that he promised them. He then finds his calling by creating a show of oddities and talents you can't see anywhere else, a journey accompanied by beautiful music and heartwarming characters.
Hugh Jackman is at the centre of this film as P.T. Barnum, and brings a great performance as always. It's amazing how perfectly he fits this role considering other, much darker roles that he also fits brilliantly. Jackman's singing is also off the charts. Zac Efron really surprised me in this film and I really loved his performance. He plays a man that joins Barnum's show and a romantic relationship develops between him and a trapeze artist, Anne Wheeler, played by Zendaya. The two share a beautiful musical number together, they bring a lot of great heart and emotion. Speaking of Zendaya, she is also fantastic in this film. I thought she was fine in Spider-Man: Homecoming but I wasn't expecting much from her in this and I was pleasantly surprised. I expected her role to be bigger considering her background in music and dance but I still really enjoyed her performance. Barnum's wife is played by Michelle Williams and I've gotta be honest, Williams can be hit or miss for me but I thought she did a really good job backing up Jackman in this role. Two other performances I want to mention are Keala Settle and Rebecca Ferguson. Settle plays the bearded lady and her voice is phenomenal, not to mention she has some very powerful acting moments to back it up. Rebecca Ferguson has some powerful acting moments as well but I did have some issues with her overall performance. I really like Rebecca Ferguson as an actress, but her character's big solo song was sung by someone else in the film, and while her performance was good, I think in a film like this it is more important to cast someone that can bring the musical talent the role requires.
This is a beautiful movie. The sets and costumes are beyond imaginative and they really add to the bright vibe the film gives. As for the musical numbers... they might be some of the best I've seen. This is one of very few musicals that had me loving every single song. The lyrics are powerful in each piece as well as the instruments and watching each song unfold on screen is mesmorizing.
Where this film loses it's hot streak is with the story and how it is told. This movie is fuzzy as all hell, and glosses over a lot of things. Any time something bad happened, it was solved pretty quickly and that gave the film stakes that weren't as strong as they should have been. I found myself very connected to the story in the first act but as the film went on I found myself constantly waiting for the next musical number to move things along. The characters in this film go through some really tough times and when a film doesn't shy away from these struggles, it makes for some powerful moments. In this film however, those moments are ultimately rushed through to bring back the bright tone. There are also elements of the real life P.T. Barnum, such as his treatment of animals, that isn't shown in the slightest and in some ways, it portrayed a very flawed man as a hero and not much else. Showing some more negative aspects of him in the portrayal would make for some more dramatic moments.
Overall I had a really good time with this film. I have some issues with the movie story wise, but the jaw dropping musical numbers more than make up for it. I think fans of musicals will love this movie and some people that don't like musicals could take to liking at least a few of the songs.
Rating: 3.5/5
Written by Matt McKenzie
Edited by Amelia Lind
This movie follows the life of Phineas Taylor Barnum, more commonly known as P.T., a poor man that marries a rich girl despite her disapproving parents. Flash forward several years and P.T. has married the rich girl and is now the father of two children. Barnum is fired from his job and upset by the fact that he can't give his family the life that he promised them. He then finds his calling by creating a show of oddities and talents you can't see anywhere else, a journey accompanied by beautiful music and heartwarming characters.
Hugh Jackman is at the centre of this film as P.T. Barnum, and brings a great performance as always. It's amazing how perfectly he fits this role considering other, much darker roles that he also fits brilliantly. Jackman's singing is also off the charts. Zac Efron really surprised me in this film and I really loved his performance. He plays a man that joins Barnum's show and a romantic relationship develops between him and a trapeze artist, Anne Wheeler, played by Zendaya. The two share a beautiful musical number together, they bring a lot of great heart and emotion. Speaking of Zendaya, she is also fantastic in this film. I thought she was fine in Spider-Man: Homecoming but I wasn't expecting much from her in this and I was pleasantly surprised. I expected her role to be bigger considering her background in music and dance but I still really enjoyed her performance. Barnum's wife is played by Michelle Williams and I've gotta be honest, Williams can be hit or miss for me but I thought she did a really good job backing up Jackman in this role. Two other performances I want to mention are Keala Settle and Rebecca Ferguson. Settle plays the bearded lady and her voice is phenomenal, not to mention she has some very powerful acting moments to back it up. Rebecca Ferguson has some powerful acting moments as well but I did have some issues with her overall performance. I really like Rebecca Ferguson as an actress, but her character's big solo song was sung by someone else in the film, and while her performance was good, I think in a film like this it is more important to cast someone that can bring the musical talent the role requires.
This is a beautiful movie. The sets and costumes are beyond imaginative and they really add to the bright vibe the film gives. As for the musical numbers... they might be some of the best I've seen. This is one of very few musicals that had me loving every single song. The lyrics are powerful in each piece as well as the instruments and watching each song unfold on screen is mesmorizing.
Where this film loses it's hot streak is with the story and how it is told. This movie is fuzzy as all hell, and glosses over a lot of things. Any time something bad happened, it was solved pretty quickly and that gave the film stakes that weren't as strong as they should have been. I found myself very connected to the story in the first act but as the film went on I found myself constantly waiting for the next musical number to move things along. The characters in this film go through some really tough times and when a film doesn't shy away from these struggles, it makes for some powerful moments. In this film however, those moments are ultimately rushed through to bring back the bright tone. There are also elements of the real life P.T. Barnum, such as his treatment of animals, that isn't shown in the slightest and in some ways, it portrayed a very flawed man as a hero and not much else. Showing some more negative aspects of him in the portrayal would make for some more dramatic moments.
Overall I had a really good time with this film. I have some issues with the movie story wise, but the jaw dropping musical numbers more than make up for it. I think fans of musicals will love this movie and some people that don't like musicals could take to liking at least a few of the songs.
Rating: 3.5/5
Written by Matt McKenzie
Edited by Amelia Lind
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