Disappointing, poorly made, lazy Moulin Rouge inspired musical mess

Rating: 4/10 (28 April 2018)

To start I LOVE musicals and have done for as long as I can think of (Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserable and Moulin Rouge are some of my favourite films) and I really wanted to like this film but it was a massive let down overall.
STORY: The plot of this film was just bland and uninspired clearly taking a lot from better musicals that have come before, the main thing for me is Moulin Rouge; so, there's an entertainment building owned by a charismatic man in a red coat and top hat, a young, conventionally attractive man who moves away from his disproving family to come and help at the theater/circus where he falls in love with the dancer and they then have to hide their love from everyone else.
DIRECTION: The fact that this is the director's first film stands out like a sore thumb. Now I don't claim to be an expert on the topic but the whole film is so garish and in your face that it becomes really hard to look at for an extended period of time let alone the 105 minute run time.
SONGS: The songs are what have got most attention and even the most negative reviews on here have said that they don't mind the songs but I honestly don't know what they see in them. Every song is just a generic 2017 pop song rather than period appropriate sounding songs like those in Phantom of the Opera or re-worked to fit the theme and environment of Moulin Rouge. What makes it worse that they are written by the people behind La La Land which, after a few watches, has started to become a favourite of mine. The choreography to these songs was also very boring and un-original.
VFX: Given that the director comes from a visual effects background the CGI in this film was offensively bad. There were things done in CG that clearly have just been done for real and the animals are just dreadful.
POSITIVES: Despite these things I did find myself somewhat enjoying some parts of the film but I couldn't for the life of me remember what they were now. The central performance from Hugh Jackman was likable and you can tell he really wanted to make this film the best could and you can't fault him for that. The editing was also relatively well done and accurately fitted the pace of the film.
Overall, the film does contain some well done, enjoyable moments but these alone don't redeem it from its forgettable songs, questionable CGI, amateur direction and story that 'borrows' more from better films than it gives anything new to the genre.