The Greatest Showman is a bold and original musical that celebrates the birth of show business and the sense of wonder we feel when dreams come to life. Inspired by the ambition and imagination of P.T. Barnum, The Greatest Showman tells the story of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a mesmerising spectacle that became a worldwide sensation.
The Greatest Showman Review
The Greatest Showman is directed by exciting new filmmaker, Michael Gracey, with songs by Academy Award winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (“La La Land”) and starring Academy Award nominee Hugh Jackman. Jackman is joined by Academy Award nominee Michelle Williams, Zendaya, Zac Efron and Rebecca Ferguson. The movie has been years in the making, with audiences eagerly anticipating the theatrical release. Like many others, myself and my family were excited to see The Greatest Showman – the trailers showed it off as an exciting, captivating film with big and bold musical numbers that would be sure to excite any theatre lover. After seeing the movie for myself, here are a few of my initial thoughts…
The Greatest Showman Casting
Let’s start with the casting. Hands down, this was one of my favourite musical casts in a long time. Hugh Jackman steals the show as P.T Barnum. His energy and devotion to the project and a clear passion to entertain during every minute of screen-time shines through in his scenes. Michelle Williams has a slightly smaller role, but plays it perfectly. Her songs are an absolute delight and she is totally believable and endearing as a devoted mother and wife, who ultimately only wants her family to be together and happy. I loved her playful energy during the scenes with her children!
Zac Efron is as charming as you would imagine and shines in every scene he’s in. There is a bar scene in which Zac and Hugh duet, this is filled with so much energy and chemistry that it’s clear there’s a very real bromance going on between the two (both on and off screen) and it’s just a shame that there were’t more chances for them to perform together in the movie. Efron’s love interest is played by Zendaya and the two have some beautiful scenes together – again though, it would’ve been interesting to see more of their storyline and a little more depth. In short, every cast member played their role brilliantly, but all characters did feel a little under developed at times
The Greatest Showman Soundtrack
The Greatest Showman soundtrack is catchy, fun and packed with big showstopping numbers as you’d expect. Whilst it has a very different feel to La La Land (the two are very different movies entirely obviously so it is pointless drawing any real comparison) the songs are genuinely impressive. From the minute the first one plays, you’ll likely get tingles! Always a good sign that these will be songs that you’ll want to listen to time and time again.
The Greatest Showman Choreography
The choreography throughout the movie was one of the standout elements that made me really fall in love with The Greatest Showman above everything else. I wasn’t prepared at all for how amazing it would be. There is so much attention to detail in every shot and the cast have absolutely nailed every move with grace and precision that must have taken so long to perfect.
All in all if you go and watch The Greatest Showman at the theatre, you won’t be disappointed. A brilliant way to see in the New Year!
