Mr. Movie review: ‘The Greatest Showman’ is a terrific musical
The Greatest Showman casts Hugh Jackman as showman P.T. Barnum. Many people don’t know that Jackman is an all-purpose actor who can do more than play Wolverine in the X-Men. He is a great singer and an athletic dancer. Supporting Jackman are Zac Efron, Zendaya, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson and others who also do their own singing and dancing.
All of them spin, twirl and whirl through some terrific sets that plant you firmly in the late 1800s.
This flick is short, to the point and totally fun. Barnum was pretty good promoter and a most excellent huckster. He’d likely approve of the liberties taken with this biopic of a big chunk of his life. Packed with much better music than they did with their Oscar and Golden Globe award-winning La La Land, Justin Paul and Benj Pasek pack first-time director Michael Gracey’s film with songs that demand dance.
Add the circus atmosphere of the Greatest Show on Earth, and The Greatest Showman gives you the not-so-surprising — sorry Pitch Perfect 3 — best musical of the year.
Movie name: ‘The Greatest Showman’
Director: Michael Gracey
Stars: Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson
Mr. Movie rating: 5 stars
Rated PG for mature themes. It’s playing at the Fairchild Cinemas Pasco and Queensgate 12s, the AMC Kennewick 12 and at Walla Walla Grand Cinemas.
5 stars to 4 1/2 stars: Must see on the big screen.
4 stars to 3 1/2 stars: Good film, see it if it’s your type of movie.
3 stars to 2 1/2 stars: Wait until it comes out on DVD.
2 stars to 1 star: Don’t bother.
0 stars: Speaks for itself.
This story was originally published December 21, 2017 at 12:38 PM with the headline "Mr. Movie review: ‘The Greatest Showman’ is a terrific musical."