Review of Chicago (2002) by Ahmedaiman1999 — 23 Apr 2020

It's really sad the unique storytelling Rob Marshall perfected here has never been duplicated in any Musical film, as far as I know, since this day, even Marshall himself approached it a second time in Nine and it's safe to say that he failed miserably. I'm talking about le montage parallèle that keeps the songs separated from the on-going actions in the actual story, and play simultaneously in order to express what the characters feel at a certain point in the story. Such a technique is rarely used in musicals, let alone used in a way that really shows that the director is in total command of his craft. That really could have been something revolutionary for the musical film genre if it was accompanied with a very simple thing.

I feel that the main reason the risks Marshall has taken in Chicago paid off brilliantly is that the film is simply has a decent plot; one that we seldom see in a musical film that tells its story primarily relying on dance numbers, which are here, by the way, elaborately choreographed. I'm a fan of musical films already, but I reckon even those who are not very fond of watching two hours of people dancing and singing would be easily engaged in a film that rather has an actual, intricate story. Even if the dance numbers don't seem to add to much to the story ـــfor, yes, I think there are some redundant ones and others overlong hereـــ it would be easy to tolerate with them as long as there is a story, a clever one, you're engrossed in from the get-go. Did I mention that Chicago has what quite possibly be the best opening dance number I've seen in any musical since I've seen La La Land's Another Day of Sun? That what made Chicago an excellent film, but what really made it extremely fun to watch is the sleek camerawork and polished lighting, the skilful and slick direction that treated the film as a breezy crime flick and the magnificent performances by all the cast, including, of course, Catherine Zeta-Jones's Oscar-winning performance. Chicago really took me by surprise since I didn't even like any of the three Rob Marshall films I've seen so far. This one I did love it!

(8.