I don't get it.

Rating: 4/10 (3 June 2018)

This movie does what it's meant to do - tells the story of the creation of the circus through song. It does do this and works as a concept quite well. It is a success to the extent that it is obviously very entertaining for many people.
However, for me the film starts to fall apart in the rushed ending of production of the film. From the obvious editing of the voices during singing moments - which was really hard to get used to - to the animation chucked in very clearly to give the film a very rushed look.
The editing in this film was very good. Especially in the scene with Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron in the bar. The coreography and persona of both actors made this scene the best scene in the film. However both of their voices were changed through some sort of auto tune. This is particularly annoying as both actors are famed for their work in musicals and this editing isn't necessary.
The story moved a bit too quickly for me and the songs weren't particularly good. Their lyrics didn't mean much for the final performance. If these lyrics are compared to other modern day musicals like Moana, you can see how the songs don't add to the film as much as they should in a musical.
The characters were incredible. They worked perfectly and each had enough screen time to make the whole film work. Zendaya seemed like an after thought at bits but she played her role well.
Maybe I'm not used to these kind of fast moving poppy musical but it didn't tick all the boxes for me.