By MAXWELL ARCHER
Student Reviewer
Admittedly, I went into “The Greatest Showman” with very little interest and low expectations.
I had seen the trailer, and I was unimpressed by the decision to fill the sound track with songs that catered to a contemporary pop audience.
I have a soft spot for classic musicals and 19th century period pieces, and this film does everything it can to avoid the conventions of either of those genres. It lacks the flavor of 1800s New York in every aspect of its style and substance. The dialogue, music, and character interactions are all distinctly and unapologetically 21st century.
The film’s only purpose of being set in the past seems to be so it can demonstrate, in a quite heavy-handed manner, that people of the era were mean, racist, and bigoted.
It does this to convey its flimsy and overly-simplistic moral of treating everyone nice, even if they’re different. That’s really the only substance of the film; other than that, it doesn’t have very much to say. It offers ethical and social commentary at the level of complexity one might find in a children’s book.
Additionally, none of the characters nor their relationships were particularly interesting nor compelling. In terms of the story’s structural elements, it was competent. Everything that was set up paid off and the main characters possessed passable development and arcs.
It simply lacks any elements that help to elevate it or force it to be remembered; every story and character aspect of this film can be described as little more than bland. However, in some of its technical aspects, the film did earn my begrudging respect.
There are some ambitious and well executed pieces of choreography and well-designed sets and stages. With that said, the CGI circus animals they decided to use are poor substitutes for the real things.