Not a bad movie, but there are definitely problems

Rating: 7/10 (13 July 2019)

Decided to give this movie a watch because while critics didn't seem to care for it too much, a lot of moviegoers were all like "THIS IS THE GREATEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME". Do I think this the best movie ever made? Not really, no. Would I go out of my way to watch it again? Nope. That said, though, this movie was pretty decent and I can definitely see why so many people seemed to like it as much as they did.
First things first, the high point of this movie was definitely the visuals. Lots of bright colors, smooth scene transitions, great editing and special effects. The movie is really nice to look at throughout, nothing looks bad or out of place.
Secondly, I'm not the biggest fan of musicals, but for the most part, I thought the songs in this movie were pretty good! That being said, though, I think the songs that wound up becoming overplayed in other places (A Million Dreams, Never Enough, and ESPECIALLY This Is Me) are the worse ones in the movie. My personal favorites were Come Alive and The Other Side, but I still thought the soundtrack was good overall. There aren't any songs that I would outright call bad.
With the positives out of the way, time for the negatives...honestly, most of this movie's issues come from its plot. To put it bluntly, this movie has one of the most contrived storylines I've ever seen. From pretty much the second this movie starts, you'll know how it ends; most conflicts are resolved within like 15 minutes, and the character of P.T. Barnum goes through a very predictable arc of "guy is poor and ridiculed by everybody -> guy works hard and becomes successful -> guy's success goes to his head and he turns his back on everyone that helped him -> everyone that was wronged by guy turns on him -> guy realizes he was wrong and makes amends and/or goes back to his old life". Additionally, the beginning of this movie is VERY slow (it's basically one long montage) and up until around the part you hear Come Alive, it's pretty boring. In contrast, the last few scenes of the movie happen so quickly that the ending almost feels abrupt. Despite the movie being over an hour and 40 minutes long, I was definitely left with a feeling of "wait, that's it?!".
Other problems I had with this movie were more minor. For one, the dubbing's not great. There were a few times where a character's mouth didn't match their voice and it was EXTREMELY visible. The other problem I have is the historical inaccuracy. I get that movies can take creative liberties with these kinds of stories, but come on...major plot points in this movie are things that never even happened in real life. I looked into P.T. Barnum's actual life, and it's so much more interesting and complex than what this movie offers (and he was also a horrible person, something only barely touched on in the movie). Finally (and this is the most minor problem of all), one of the protesters in the middle of the movie was such a horrible actor that it was actually hilarious, even moreso because of this movie's otherwise strong performances.
All of the aforementioned problems aside, though, I did like this movie. The visuals were AMAZING, the performances were very good, the songs were catchy, and watching it was a solid experience. It has a nice (if not overdone) message about embracing diversity and overcoming obstacles. You'll leave feeling better than when you came in. Overall, I don't think The Greatest Showman comes anywhere close to being a 10/10 movie, but I DO think the movie is better than critics are giving it credit for. That said, it's not anywhere near as good as most moviegoers say it is, at least in my opinion. It's a lighthearted, enjoyable, family-friendly experience, but it's no cinematic masterpiece. If you're into musicals and "feel good" movies, I would absolutely recommend this. If you aren't, I'd say to skip this one.