Movie Musical Reviews- #3: Hairspray

Elric-san Well, I decided it would probably be best to talk about a musical I actually grew up with. I was gonna do The Wizard of Oz or a Disney movie, but the former I need to watch again and the latter had WAY too many to choose from. I will get around to them, though. So, I decided to go with Hairspray, the movie my sister and I used to torture our parents with. This is gonna be fun.

The plot of Hairspray is in 1962, an overweight teenager named Tracy Turnblad is obsessed with a dance show called The Corny Collins Show. When she manages to get on the show, she realizes the problems with it and the media in general due to integration issues. The main problem with this particular show is Velma Von Tussle, a racist producer who wants to keep television segregated. There are other plot points, but I'll talk about some of those when I get to the characters.

The thing I should point out about the story is that it is unbelievably cheesy. Like, it's one of those bright, happy, kind of dopey musicals. But the thing is, it actually works to the movie's advantage. The 60's had a lot of cheesy stuff, and this is kind of paying homage to it. Plus, the story is just plain fun. It's got so much energy in it, it's hard not to enjoy yourself watching it.

Onto the characters. There's a lot, so I'll just cover the ones with the most screentime. Our main character, Tracy, is a bubbly, cheerful girl who loves dancing and wants to be famous. Cheesy, but it's really sweetly performed and the writing of her is pretty good, making her a good main character. Next is our romantic lead, Link Larkin. Basically, it's Zac Efron type casting. But hey, he's a lot more fun than in High School Musical, because they make fun of how much of a pretty boy he is. Plus, he's actually kind of funny. We also have Seaweed and Motormouth Maybelle, the two main advocates for integration. Seaweed is snarky and fun, while Maybelle is more of a downplayed character...most of the time. Plus, she's Queen Latifah. Perfect for musicals. Finally, there are our two main villains, Amber and Velma Von Tussle. Amber is more a generic high school bully, so she's not that great a character, but Velma is one of my favorite musical villains. She's basically a woman who thinks she's all that for winning a pageant called Miss Baltimore Crabs (meant to be ironic because she had sex with all the judges to win). She's funny, petty, and just plain awesome.

On to visuals. The visuals, like the story, are campy, but really great. It's all brightly colored and a very 60's style of clothing and buildings, helping to create the illusion that this is the 60's. I can't talk much about the editing or cinematography, because it's not as unique as Moulin Rouge or as horrible as Phantom of the Opera.

Now, to the music. This soundtrack is basically "Earworm: The Soundtrack." The songs are just so fun and upbeat and catchy, it's hard to keep them out of your head. In fact, anyone reading this, search up one of the songs from this movie. I dare you. Go to YouTube and look up "Good Morning Baltimore", "Miss Baltimore Crabs", "Run and Tell That", they will be stuck all day.

I'm kind of surprised I still like this movie. Usually, I'm not exactly that loving of things so bright and cheery. But this movie has so much heart and energy, it's hard not to love. It's not for everyone, and it will annoy some people, but give it a chance. It might surprise you.

Overall Score: 8/10

If you have any suggestions, feel free to tell me, and I'll try to get to it.

Comments

Never heard of it. Doesn't sound interesting. Also, you could try The Sound of Music (random recommendation) - visitor (7/18/2017)

My brother will probably make me watch it either way. - Elric-san (7/19/2017)

I saw it because it's my mother's favorite movie and she has the soundtrack. It's a pretty good movie. - visitor (7/26/2017)

Do a disney movie - visitor (7/25/2017)

I will. Just need to think of one to do. - Elric-san (7/26/2017)