Only Two Musicals Have Scored Near Perfect On Metacritic

“If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.” It’s a phrase that all of us may have used before, or at least something of the spirit behind it, when talking about films of a certain genre. You might think that if you’re not a fan of horror movies, if you’ve only seen one slasher, you know how they all work. And if you only see one heartwarming romantic comedy, you might think you don’t need to watch anymore because of how familiar the tropes are. But it can be argued that few genres are treated in this way, and as unfairly, as the musical film. Where so many audiences are able to suspend their disbelief to watch a superhero movie or similar, they find it hard to get over the image of people breaking into song to express their emotions. But the truth is, every genre has its notable records and its failures. Not all musicals are perfect, or close to perfect, but many of them can not only affect audiences of all ages, but can also work across media.

You could also fairly say that those movie buffs who also happen to be critics are the most forgiving and hard-nosed viewers of musicals. When someone criticizes the very concept of a musical on social media, critics will often jump in to defend the genre from any haters. But conversely, those same critics have seen many supposed classics of the genre, making newer musicals like “La La Land” or “The Greatest Showman” an even harder sell because of how they feel that they refer better or are more memorable. movies. As such, it should come as no surprise that when you visit Metacritic to see the highest-rated movie musicals of all time, two things are true: first, no movie musical. have 100 perfect on site; and two, the two musicals that come closest to 100 are the elder statesmen of the genre.

Let’s talk about each of those two musicals. One of them, seen above, is among the very best films“Singin’ in the Rain.” The other, as suggested earlier in this article, is not even live action, but the 1940 animated film “Pinocchio.”

When you think about it for even a second or two, it should come as no surprise that Metacritic’s page of the highest rated movie musicals, five of the best seven the titles are from Walt Disney Animation Studios. (If there’s anything we can argue about, the 1940 film “Fantasia” is among those five animated entries. It’s a great film, but not a musical in the traditional sense given that no one sings in its entirety.) Long before Disney hired Alan Menken and Howard Ashman to write the songs for their “Little Mermaid” adaptation, the studio was adamant about blending songs with the fairy tales it animators modify them. 1940 film “Pinocchio,” it is arguably the best animated film Disney has ever madenot only uses songs when retelling Carlo Collodi’s story about a little wooden boy who goes on an intense journey to become a real boy for his maker and father Geppetto. The film also opens with “When You Wish Upon a Star,” a song so iconic it’s literally the studio’s anthem.

(Fun fact one: “When You Wish Upon a Star,” no wonder it won an Oscar for Best Original Song. Fun fact two: “When You Wish Upon a Star” was even the first Disney song nominated for that category, meaning “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” was snubbed back in 1937.)

Now, to be fair, none of the other songs in “Pinocchio” come close to the top of “When You Wish Upon a Star,” which is effective in distilling the dreams and hopes of the film’s characters and of part of being a terrifying refrain as originally. performed by Cliff Edwards (who portrayed Jiminy Cricket). The entire film has a fascinating approach to its storytelling; yes, you may remember how Pinocchio has to face bad feelings like the greedy Stromboli or Monstro the scary whale. But the 90-minute films spend their first half hour inside Geppetto’s workshop, as we meet the kindly old woodcarver, his cat Figaro, his fish Cleo, and eventually the anthropomorphized Pinocchio himself. Once the film leaves the workshop and Pinocchio meets all sorts of characters, we hear songs like “Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (An Actor’s Life For Me)” and “I’ve Got No Strings,” which n bouncing numbers, upbeat . In fact, only “When You Wish Upon a Star” is a bit of a ballad; the other four songs (and reprises) are fast tunes that are catchy enough even today.

Additionally, in case you’re curious, there are 17 reviews of the film captured on its Metacritic page. Don’t forget that on Metacritic, not only does the site collect fewer reviews than its competition, but it also tabulates reviews by either a specific star or a number score (or assigns one based on the tenor of the review ). So, even though this movie has a 99 on the website, it has a few (gasp!) reviews below even 90 out of 100. One such review suggests that “Pinocchio” isn’t even the “top echelon” of Disney Classics, but listen, we all get one wrong every once in a while. Even critics are not perfect.

For this writer’s money, there is no better movie than “Singin’ in the Rain.” We’re not just musicals here, but films in general. It absolutely is in the greatest musical film of all time, but it deserves to be considered the greatest film of all time as well. From 1952, the film is technically its own period piece, set in the late 1920s during the period when Hollywood was making the difficult transition from silent films to talking pictures. The film’s lead, the raffish and charming Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly), is an ex-stuntman who is more than happy to show off his singing and dancing chops once sound comes to Los Angeles, especially since he has realized that the kind of pictures he makes. (vague adventure stories about derring-do and romance) are not as creatively exciting as they used to be. (The first line of this article is a direct quote from the movie that lights a spark under Don.) Although Don is ready for the sound stage, his obnoxious blonde co-star Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen), is not. thanks mainly to her voice and nails-on-a-chalk-board demeanor. Meanwhile, Don falls for Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds), a dancer with aspirations of fame. (If some of this general story reminds you of Damien Chazelle’s movie “Babylon,” that’s no accident, especially considering how that movie quotes this one in its final moments.)

“Singin’ in the Rain” is one of the great cinematic pleasures of all time, the kind of film that fills you with positivity and good feeling without feeling forced or phony. The film treads a careful tightrope between honoring the film industry’s past while also mercilessly mocking Hollywood. Kelly and his male co-star Donald O’Connor (as Cosmo’s best friend Don) are both absolutely gorgeous, dancing individually or together; the title sequence, coming as Don realizes the depth of his love for Kathy, is also one of the most iconic in film history. So, it is not surprising that the film has 99 score on Metacritic, also based on 17 reviews. Like “Pinocchio,” the film has a few reviews with a score below 100, but only three, including a period-specific report by Bosley Crowther of the New York Times. (Since Bosley has had enough years on it, we’ll forgive his implication that the film’s script is hackneyed, which is definitely A Take.)

Two films so different, not only because they were presented in different mediums but because of the distinctive stories being told, should land so high on the list of musicals on Metacritic to remind you: just because you have seen one do that. t means you’ve seen them all. It is quite the opposite. Yes, in a musical, you will see someone start singing and/or dancing to convey how they feel, but the background for those actions is often very different. All you need to enjoy these films, to truly appreciate them, is to completely suspend your disbelief.