"This IS The Greatest Show!!!" Period.

Rating: 9/10 (28 March 2018)

When I came out of this wonderful movie, part of a poem came to mind. The poem is IF by Rudyard Kipling and the quote goes: "If you can make one heap of all your winnings and risk it on a turn of pitch and toss and lose, and start again at your beginnings". This (in my opinion) describes the spirit and feel of this movie perfectly. THE GREATEST SHOWMAN is about following your dreams with the ones you love, it's about being proud of who you are and where you come from and it's about how when you fail and your dreams come toppling down, you CAN build them 10 times back up again! One of the REALLY great things about this movie was just how different it was to what we're used to in today's film industry! It was a wonderful change in the sea of psychological thrillers and police dramas that today's cinema is SO overcrowded with! It's uplifting, inspiring, charming, moving, romantic but most of all has an absolutely killer soundtrack! I can truly say that director Michael Gracey has done an exceptional job in bringing this inspiring and uplifting story to the screen, whatever the critics may say!
Obviously, when you look at musicals, the soundtrack must be good and the songs in this film were absolutely BRILLIANT! John Debney and several others have written funky, uplifting, moving songs that really push the film along. The style of the songs are combinations of the old classics like WEST SIDE STORY, modern funk and modern musicals like LA LA LAND. The combination TOTALLY works and I have listened to "The Greatest Show" several times already. It's fair to say that the songs carry the story. The film gets off to a terrific start with "the greatest show" and is propelled onwards with several brilliant others. This, of course was due to the awesome vocal talent and this, obviously, was the brilliant cast that Gracey has pulled together. Hugh Jackman leads the show and it feels almost like he was born to play this role. He puts in such enthusiasm and charisma and really becomes a hero that you can root for. Both his acting and his vocal skills were faultless and he really carried this film. The rest of the cast was on top form as well with Michelle Williams, Zac Efron, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya and Keala Settle. Every single member is on top-form in this film and convey such emotion with their acting and singing! It's a real joy to watch all of the cast and you really grow to care about all of them and their struggles.
Now, I know there have been many critics saying that this film is a flop but to quote one critic (Mark Kermode): "they're wrong!' Critics complain about the pace of the story, the characters, the clichÃ©s but I reason that they simply don't get what the film is about. It's not perfect but that's not what you watch it for, you watch it for a charming, funky, uplifting and romantic escape from all the same-old, same-old films of today! It's colourful and vibrant. Yes, it goes over the top with some of the CGI but it somehow doesn't matter because it's such a fun and fantastic ride and yes, some of the messages feel a bit over-used but they're told in such a kind and sincere way that you end up not caring! This film, overall, was a brilliant ride, charming, uplifting and totally fresh! It may sound silly but after coming out of this film, for a few seconds, I wanted to grab a top hat and join the circus- just to let you know: I HAVEN'T!
I really enjoyed and loved this film, it was uplifting and a real feel-good movie but it was also a wonderful and refreshing change for today's cinema! All I can say is: there's a reason it's called the "GREATEST" SHOMAN!