Paint-by-numbers movie

Rating: 2/10 (28 July 2018)

The Greatest Showman is an example of lazy storytelling.
Colourful and bright with some big songs, the movi is actually just a conflicted mess. Whilst they see it fit to use language of the time to describe the "freaks" drafted to PT Barnum's show (all done in a quaint medley so we barely get any depth or interesting story), the music utilises a far more modern tone. There's be no issue with this (look how incredibly Lin-Manuel Miranda's 'Hamilton' mixes up historical period & musical style) but here the intention is totally unclear.
Returning to the story, the main rags-to-riches-story of PT Barnum is poorly told. It's wholly unoriginal with huge story elements missed out (when he's told that his family is to be evicted from their home, we've had no proper indication as to how or why. His interest in 'incredible' singer Jenny Lind (she most certainly is not an 'incredible' singer) is dull and obvious, even though she proves a highly unlikeable character.
As for Zac Efron's part in this big mess, it's hard to understand what his character's even doing there. Again, unlikeable and 2-dimentional, there's no originality in the telling of his and Anne Wheeler's mixed-race relationship story.
This is a terrible movie which fails to tell an interesting story (a true story!). Entertaining only due to Jackman and Keala Settle's talent and some bright colours. Don't let the smiles and music deceive you - this is a poor film.