It's Wildly Overrated

Rating: 3/10 (5 September 2019)

I had low expectations before watching this film, and walking out I realized my prior expectations were completely accurate. It was absolutely terrible.
It's been awhile since I've seen a movie with so many flaws - some including the cringe/ cliche dialogue, over dramatic songs, and horrifically bad CGI. It's so incredibly hard to be entertained by this movie when the flaws are so noticeable. The CGI backdrops don't blend in well enough with the real sets. When musical moments come, most of the actors fail at lip-dubbing and it's so painfully obvious that it's lip-dub. (A good example of this is the "opera" scene) A note to add is that the songs are simply unlikable. Everyone of them have the same beat and tempo, and despite being set in the 1800s, the musical pieces resemble those of modern pop songs. It's honestly disgusting.
Another flaw is the dialogue. It comes off as any other cliche musical. The characters are written terribly, as they seem to be written by one person - there are not enough obvious features to dignify each circus character. They're all mad-tempered weirdos, who somehow all want "acceptance", and following this we get the cliche retaliation from the citizens. This sort of theme seems to be overplayed in today's film industry.
I'll put credit where it's due - Hugh Jackman is great as always, and despite the fact that I hate this film, I do admire the work and dedication put behind the production.
In conclusion, though this film is in fact original, nothing actual feels original about it.