The "Greatest" Message?

Rating: 9/10 (3 January 2018)

Disclaimer: I write this review solely on the account of the movie and not on the accuracy of the portrayal of P. T. Barnum's history.
Honestly, I was shook to the core and left the cinema feeling a sense of awe and wonder. Firstly, the music was excellent; the talent unquestionable. I could only laugh as I thought: "Is Zac Efron FINALLY moving back to the genre he started in?". Obviously, this is not in anyway negatively intended as I found his presence in this movie to be pleasant and extremely welcomed, much to his favour as a refresh to my increasingly foul impression of him (after having watched Baywatch). Hugh Jackman also did an incredible job as "The Greatest Showman", portraying the infamous businessman, P. T. Barnum. Make no mistake, I love the X-Men series, and I love Hugh as the Wolverine but I find myself really enjoying him playing more roles like this as he displays both his acting and musical talents.
I felt like the movie was also well-paced, whereby the scenes flowed fluidly where it was easy to grasp and follow along the development of the character's story. Coming back to the musical aspect of the movie, it didn't feel forced as if the singing seemed unnecessary and untimely. In my opinion, that fluidity creates a truly magical feeling. The plot wasn't anything too fancy, and this isn't a bad thing as I enjoyed the simplicity of it. It was all it needed to be.
But most of all, I truly enjoyed the relevancy of this movie in today's age and time. I felt like this movie could not have been made at a better time. Living currently as part of what is deemed the younger generation, I personally feel this entitlement to a more materialistic lifestyle involving a nice house, nice car. nice everything. This may also be partially biased due to my family not being very wealthy. However, it seems like more and more people from this generation are inclined to look for great ideas, just to make bank or some form of profit. As much as that is true, we often forget that not all great ideas make out to be successes, and we also tend to neglect our loved ones, family and friends alike, as well as our humanity in treating others as equals, in the process of achieving both recognition and wealth. Hence, I felt like this movie had one of the "greater" messages amongst many other recent works. If I had one critique about the movie, it would definitely be the special effects applied; one of the instances being in the final scene when the lions jumped on the platforms. They seemed almost unrealistic and ruined the scene (just a little) for me. Aside from that, it also seemed that Jenny Lind's character was almost too abruptly cut out from the story and I felt needed just something slightly more, but these are just minor flaws in an otherwise great piece. If you have not yet seen this movie, I truly wish you the same joyful experience that I had.
Thank you Michael Gracey.