If you are not up to date on pop culture or you’ve been living under a rock the past few months, some amazing movies came out. From Coco to The Last Jedi to Jumanji, there hasn’t been a single movie to dominate ticket sales. However, one movie sticks out among all of the competitors: The Greatest Showman.
Following the story of P.T. Barnum’s life and the start up of the circus, The Greatest Showman immediately sweeps you off your feet from the first scene. Personally, I am a huge fan of musicals, but even if that isn’t your thing, the soundtrack will make you think otherwise. Not only are the songs catchy (even the slower songs), but the lyrics transcend beyond any movie plot about a circus. One of the most powerful songs on the soundtrack, “This Is Me,” was even nominated for Best Song at the Oscars this year.
I have a hard time supporting anything that deals with the circus. I truly believe that it partakes in animal abuse and am happy that they aren’t really around anymore. So going into the movie, I had very low expectations. I didn’t expect to really enjoy something that made me sympathize with the man behind the creation of the circus. But I have to say, I am not mad about it. And maybe it’s mostly because the movie doesn’t going into any further details about animals in the circus other than occasionally showing them in wide shots.
The characters that are in the circus, like the bearded lady and trapeze artists, are stories of real people. The struggles those characters go through translates into our modern world. And I don’t know about you, but I am a sucker for a story where the characters have good story arcs. It makes the movie feel even more real. The Greatest Showman does not disappoint on that front.
With all that being said, the cast is just out of this world. Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Zendaya and Michelle Williams are four actors that I would never guess would all be in the same movie, let alone have so much chemistry. My eternal heart sparkle for Zac Efron and his musical abilities was a big factor for me seeing the movie. I feel oddly proud that I have seen his evolution from High School Musical to this. And my fashion icon, Zendaya – I have to admit, I had never really seen her act. Even in the new Spider-Man: Homecoming, she really did not have much screen time. In this movie, though, she stole my heart (along with probably everyone else’s). Her story was the one I found myself wanting to know more about, even though it wasn’t even the secondary plot line. Maybe that’s because I am a romantic college-aged girl and her love interest is Zac Efron, so why wouldn’t I be the most interested in that?
No matter what you like about movies, The Greatest Showman really seems to check off all the boxes. But there is something else that I just can’t describe about the movie. It’s the atmosphere of the entire big screen experience: sitting in the theater and becoming completely immersed in another world. That is rare for me lately. It takes a lot for me to be so sold on a movie that I don’t even want to talk to my friends during the movies.
So do yourself a favor: If you haven’t already, go see The Greatest Showman. Do it big, so go see it in the theaters. Oh, and afterward, hop right on Spotify because you’re going to want to start learning the words to all the songs.