Article written by Dylan Bell.
Musicals are arguably my favourite genre of film, but in saying this, I am well aware that for every good musical there is an equally bad one. What constitutes as bad for a musical? One would assume the songs; if you have bad songs, you have a bad film. I don’t believe that’s up for debate. However, is the reverse true as well? Do good songs make a good film?
Before we begin, I must point out that music in general is highly subjective, so my idea of a “good” song may be completely different to your idea. Keep that in mind whilst reading this article.
We must first identify what makes a good musical. You may be thinking, “Songs, obviously. What are you, stupid?” To that, I respond: yes. Nevertheless, there are other aspects besides songs that make a good film. One of the best musicals I have seen in recent memory is La La Land, a beautiful film with stellar performances, wonderful songs, and importantly – a good plot. So, I believe it is safe to say that if a musical does hit all of these key components, then a good musical is made.
However, there are some musicals that do not hit these three key components. One example that comes to mind is Mamma Mia, a film I hold close to my heart, despite it arguably being a huge dumpster fire of a movie. Before you raise your pitchforks at me, let me explain. Mamma Mia has a superstar cast, such as the goddess that is Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and many other A-list performers. Yet despite being Hollywood royalty, these actors are only giving half-assed performances, and one aspect that unites the majority of these actors is that they cannot sing. Although on paper the songs are good, the singers are not. As well as the plot jumping from idea to idea with little to connect them, it is clear that Mamma Mia does not meet the three key components, so therefore it is a bad musical.
So, now that we have identified what makes a good and bad musical, the question of whether good songs make a good film becomes easier. Now, you may choose to disagree with me – and that is perfectly fine – but in my opinion, having good songs does not make a good musical. To demonstrate this, I point to a rather recent musical, The Greatest Showman.
Why do I think this is a bad musical? Well, let's look at the three key components. Looking at the songs, I can say that although some of the songs are lacklustre, the majority are fun, good to listen to, well-performed and have heart-warming meanings. So, the song component is good, and as you may have been able to predict, the performances are mostly very good – both singing wise and by general acting standards.
However, where this film fails – and fails hard – is plot. This is not a review of The Greatest Showman, so why this film fails will not be explored in depth here, but essentially the plot is just plain bad because it focuses on, I believe, the wrong aspects.
Now, you may be thinking that this film only fails at one component, so surely that can't ruin a film. And the answer to that is… complicated. I mentioned the three key components of a musical, but there is one other aspect that is often overlooked which can either make or break a musical, and that is timing. The most difficult aspect to get right in musicals is timing. The whole point of a musical is that it has songs, but when you have a song in the middle of a scene, it takes time away from the rest of the film, so that song has to matter; it must either further the plot or give character development, and even than it must be placed in the right scene, for the right reason, for it to make sense. If a musical cannot deliver on this golden rule, then it will fail no matter how good the songs may be, and that is why The Greatest Showman ultimately fails.
There is one final component I would like to discuss before leaving you. There is one important aspect of musicals that I have neglected to talk about, and that is: is the musical fun? If the musical is fun and enjoyable, then I believe it has accomplished its goal. It may not be a good film, but it can at least be an enjoyable one.
So, we finally have our answer: just because a musical has good songs, does not mean it will be a good film. But if you enjoy a musical, then it has succeeded on a personal note. After all, I will always love Mamma Mia despite its flaws because it’s fun.
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