The Greatest Show · 7:02am Mar 14th, 2018
So, I just got back from seeing The Greatest Showman with my family, and golly, I’m so glad that I decided to go see it. I was so worried that I had set my expectations up too high and that I was going to get another repeat of my experience with the live-action Beauty and the Beast. Instead, this movie exceeded my expectations, and I loved it. I was even applauding by the end. (Thankfully, the theater only had around 10 people.
) Don’t bother complaining here about historical inaccuracies or disorganized plot or whatnot. I’m allowed to like what I like, and I like this movie.
I first began looking forward to it because I had listened to a few of the songs on YoutTube. The first one that I heard was “Rewrite the Stars.”
You can thank The Piano Guys for that one. The tune was so beautiful that I just had to find out what the lyrics were, and when I did, the touching lyrics, passionate vocals, and the human!FlashLight vibes (if I’m not shipping trash already, I pretty sure I’m turning into that) had me putting that song on repeat for about a week if not longer. I ended up listening to covers and medleys, and each one was magic.
I honestly wasn’t planning on seeing this movie until LONG after the DVD release, but my sister had talked me into going to the only theater in my area that was still showing this movie, and my mom was surprisingly okay with spending a few extra dollars on a later showing (We usually go to the earliest and cheapest showing). I don’t know why everything worked out so that I was able to see the movie so soon, but I’m so glad that everything did. That movie was a thing of beauty. The first scene hadn’t even started rolling yet, and I hear “Whoa-oh-oh-oh!” I knew I was in for a ride. I didn’t know what was going to go down, but I had a feeling that I was going to like it. And I did.
I know people are complaining about the awards that it didn’t win or get nominated for, but I don’t care about any of that. A movie doesn’t need an award to be beautiful or meaningful. This movie left such a big impression on me that the first thing I did after I got home was listen to “From Now On” on repeat (It wasn’t the flashiest or most romantic song on the soundtrack, but dang, does it need more covers).
I’ll admit that the movie doesn’t spend a lot of time elaborating on plot and character development, but honestly, I don’t think it needs to. Just the songs and the little visual snippets that we see of the characters going about their lives was enough to give me a sense of who these characters were and how they changed over time and get me to fall in love with them. That might not be enough for some people, but it was more than enough for me.
I would recommend this movie to anyone and everyone, and I’m so glad that I got to see it.
having seen the recent batch of EQG shorts, Sci-Twi is too good for Timber.
4816591
I feel like I should warn you. The movie took EXTENSIVE historical liberties regarding the life of P.T. Barnum, maybe even more historical liberties than Hamilton did with Alexander Hamilton, so you might not like this movie. Then again, the movie never claims to be a biopic. I think the movie is more a a tribute to Barnum's larger than life imagination than his actual life. You might have an easier time enjoying it if you think of it that way instead of as a biopic. Of course, musicals make terrible biopics and vice versa.
4817530
Thanks for the heads up
4817725
So, according to my sister's boyfriend, the creators of The Greatest Showman had to create a completely new character to be P.T. Barnum's partner because they couldn't get the rights to James Bailey's name. So, yeah, there's an actual reason for that particular tidbit of fiction.
4818041
How do you not get the ability to use James Bailey? He's not copyrighted and he's critical to PT Barnum's history... I just...
How?
4818092
Apparently, James Bailey's descendants said no. I'm just going off of what my sister's boyfriend told me, and he's been wrong before.
4818092
Whoops, never mind. My sister's boyfriend was just ASSUMING that they replaced James Bailey with a fictional character so they won't have to pay his descendants for using his name. Apparently, Hollywood has done that sort of thing before. Most sources in the internet seem to just assume that they did it just because they wanted to add in a mixed race star-crossed lovers romance into the story. It's possible that the real reason is something closer to both. Ugh, that's what I get for taking information that other people tell me at face value. Although, in his defense, he probably wasn't expecting me to tell other people.
When was the last historically inspired movie that you saw that took extensive historical liberties with the plot that didn't really bother you because everything else was too enjoyable? If you can't answer this question, maybe you're better off listening to the soundtrack without watching the movie.
I can't help but feel like I just wasted your time, and I'm so sorry for that.
4818120
I haven't seen it yet... the last movie I saw in theatres was The Last Jedi and I want to see Black Panter but the last couple of weekends I couldn't thanks to the last few storms that hit my state