It is the Greatest Show!

Rating: 8/10 (4 February 2018)

Michael Gracey, the director of this film, knows very well what is the biggest selling factor for his film and cleverly puts it at the beginning of the film, right after the company logo sequences. This is perhaps why The Greatest Showman opens with the stunning musical performance led by Hugh Jackman who plays PT Barnum and slowly dissolves his image into the young PT Barnum (Ellis Rubin) as the film narrative would start from that point. The flashforward to hook the audiences by revealing the famous actor isn't a new technique in musical films. Pitch Perfect 3, another musical film that is released at the same month with The Greatest Showman, adopts the similar technique. The film begins with the performance of Barden Bellas in a cruise ship, then the narrative starts from another point which happens much earlier than the opening scene. Both films present its timeline in the middle-beginning-middle-end order, however I must say that in The Greatest Showman the middle and beginning parts are nicely merged together. The use of dissolve as the transition from Hugh Jackman to Ellis Rubin creates a strong visual connection between them.
There are much more to talk about from the opening scene alone, such as active camera movement, great dance choreography, great loudness contrast between Hugh Jackman's sound and the rhythmic stomping feet, impressive lyrics with deep meaning. All of these things show how much the film cares about its visual and auditory impression to its audiences.
The only disappointment for this film would be that a few people don't actually sing when they seem to do it. Hugh Jackman, however, is a special case because he got direct order from his doctor not to sing. But I am really surprised when I know Jenny Lind's singing doesn't come from Rebecca Ferguson who plays the role. It is Lorren Allred. I don't know why the director made this decision as he himself hired Keala Settle from Broadway musical. So why didn't he hire someone like Keala or Zac Efron, a great actor with great voice? It's not that I hate Rebecca Ferguson for not singing in a musical film, but lip-syncing is just an unusual thing in musical films.