I want to recommend everyone to go see The Greatest Showman!
Ever since I saw the trailer, I couldn’t wait to see it in theaters! With a great variety of actors/actresses and what looked like a fantastic storyline, I went into the viewing of the movie with anticipation and excitement. Within the first minute of the film, I got shivers! This film introduces an incredibly peppy soundtrack that capitalizes on the theme of “dreaming with your eyes open.” With the help of each musical piece, the film maintains a certain tone portraying a combination of self-love and confidence no matter what your appearance or social status is. From Hugh Jackman’s previous performance in Les Miserables as Jean Valjean, I knew I wouldn’t be disappointed with his execution in The Greatest Showman.
Yes, this movie is considered a musical. Not many people are big fans of musical productions in cinema, but as I kept watching, I forgot I was watching a musical. The gaps between each song are perfectly spaced out in a way that avoids dousing the audience in an overwhelming amount of musical performance in one scene. Unlike Into The Woods and The Last Five Years, the songs are placed between specific dialectic scenes to emphasize the tone and emotion of the situation. Other musicals are basically a visual soundtrack. Not only are the songs catchy, but they are also composed in a way that touches the audience.
This film is successful at allowing the audience to identify with the characters. In other words, many personalities are presented in this film ranging from hard-working fathers, forgotten children, and shunned commoners. Many of the characters belong to unaccepting and unloving families. Others are rejected and mocked by the public. Though none of these characters have upbringings full of fortune and wealth, they prove that the greatest fortune is being yourself and fully accepting yourself for the way you were made. Though the freaks of P.T. Barnum’s Circus have constant problems with being treated as normal people, they realize that nothing is actually “wrong” with them. They are special, unique, exquisite creatures and that makes them beyond normal. Normal is boring anyway! No matter who you are, nothing is impossible, especially putting a smile on someone’s face. This film definitely left me smiling.
I’ll leave it at that. I strongly recommend you see the movie to experience the true inspiration that was The Greatest Showman.
(Just make sure you get your tickets ahead of time, the movie is actually selling out in some theaters!)
Tiger's Daydream 