You wait years for an original movie musical and then two high profile ones come along in the same year. Following on from the success of La La Land (and boasting its lyricists in its song-writing team), The Greatest Showman seeks to capture that old-fashioned spectacle and joy that only a musical can give. Its strives prove fruitful enough, but its base premise causes problems in what it tries to achieve.

Based on the life of P.T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman), the man credited with founding the circus, the film charts his journey from a poor tailor’s son, to an entrepreneur who recruits ‘oddities’ in the form of unusual people to be a part of his new show. Barnum soon recruits a partner in the form of the fictitious Phillip Carlyle (Zac Efron – returning to the world of movie musicals), a less-successful playwright, who, in turn, then begins a romance with another fictitious character, Barnum’s trapeze artist, Anne Wheeler (Zendaya). As he rises in the showbusiness ranks, Barnum eventually gambles it all on promoting the ‘Swedish Songbird’, Jenny Lind (Rebecca Ferguson), causing stirs in his home life with wife Charity (Michelle Williams – underserved as an actress and character).

The film’s narrative telling is not quite as strong or as deep as its musical moments presume. The film sometimes gets lost in its music, forgetting that to propel a musical forward you need plot outside of that which the songs bring. It is incredibly earnest however, and still enjoyable and spritely enough that it keeps you engaged and carries you through the emotive moments (these are still earned in a sense and do land well), despite little character exploration or contextual understanding. It seems to assume that due to the large amount of predictability it needn’t bother with the details, but this is what makes the film feel a little emptier. The stars of the circus are barely given lines, let alone their opinions looked into, and the racism surrounding Wheeler and Carlyle’s relationship is present in one mere comment. The Greatest Showman seems to have been caught up in trying hard to make the audience smile and have a good time, that it has forgotten that some shade is needed, and in cases is obvious if it is skipped over.

The underlying conflict of the film’s quality is its choice to put a generic rags to riches story onto a much more interesting one, and herald its protagonist as a hero, despite the obvious controversy surrounding the entire concept of the circus (is he benefitting from exploiting them or really, as the film primarily tries to put it, a champion of the unique?), and Barnum’s reputation as a bit of a conman. What makes it more frustrating is that these things are hinted at in fleeting comments but then brushed under the rug. In the slightly misguided desire to bring joy to the screen, a sadly more interesting and textured film has been discarded. It also means that any conflict within the film is resolved fairly easily, but the overall theme of dreams remains powerful and quite inspiring.

So, it does feel like a very sugar-coated version of events, but if you accept this and don’t fight it, you can allow yourself into this film’s fluffy bubble and have a perfectly enjoyable ride. The music is toe-tappingly upbeat, and the modern-feel is inserted well into the Victorian time period, never feeling out of place with the exception of the supposed world-class opera singer, Lind, singing a song (that is actually a song in this musical world) that is blatantly not opera (but the song itself and Loren Allred’s vocals soon distract you from this). The performances are also generally brilliantly staged – certain ones are incredibly clever (in particular one of the bar scenes, which may find its way into becoming a drinking game for some). There is occasionally excessive CG use that is sometimes distracting, and there is the odd moment that the film mistakes absurdity for theatricality, but on the whole the musical numbers are excellent and the highlights of the film. They capture the joyous spirit and are a spectacle to behold.

The cast are all fantastic, giving it their all and putting on a great show. In the titular role, Jackman is inimitable, fully able to shine and really make the part his own. Efron and Zendaya are excellent and believable as the star-crossed lovers, and Keala Settle as the Bearded Lady is a stand-out from amongst the rest of the circus stars (particularly in her brilliant belting in the stand-out song This is Me).

There is a certain magic that only musicals have the power to give. The Greatest Showman sparks and fizzles, not always fully catching fire in the way it desires, but despite its faults you will be hard pressed not to leave with the cinema with a smile on your face and a tune in your toes. It is thoroughly enjoyable and has musical moments to get lost in, and hopefully will do its bit in pushing forward this hopeful resurgence of the movie musical.