Anna Roiter

I'm a big musical buff, so I know what makes a good musical and what doesn't. Compared to the original that's also on disney plus, the movie adaptation is a let down. First of all, Christian Bale is a great actor but not a good singer, and it's obvious from his solo in "Santa Fe". His voice was in his head most of the song and sometimes it was strained which was ear-piercing. Also, the directors removed the part of his character that made him an artist, which would've been good for the plot. Secondly, they removed half of the songs from the original which doesn't make any sense, considering it's a MUSICAL. Maybe they did this because not everyone was a singer, but again, it completely contradicts the idea of a musical. They should've either hired a better singing cast and kept all of the songs, or not made it a musical at ALL. With the budget they had it would've worked well. Also, the completely erased the character of Katherine, which is so disappointing. In the movie they just made her a dumb love interest for Jack Kelly and even that was barely explored. In the original she was a fighting reporter who didn't let the social norms of girl define her, and she was an asset to the cause and not just some excuse for a kiss in the end! Her character was interesting because at the set time women barely had any rights and she showed that women can do anything if they try. However in this movie she's completely erased (along with her solo) and replaced with a man who abandons them anyway. What a disappointment. Plus the whole "Francis Sullivan" shtick was totally pointless and had no relation to the story, even to Jack's character. Despite all that, the movie was still enjoyable! The choreography was really well done, although the camera angles sometimes covered it up, and the energy from the actors were just as good as the original. I'm glad that they decided to shed more light on Scot Canlon and make him an actual character, because in the original that whole matter was overlooked. For people considering to watch this adaptation, I recommend that you watch the original first and then check out this one.