This movie is just so damn entertaining, it's impossible not to get swept into the dreamworld of the abandoned theatre and its colourful caretakers. As someone who doesn't particularly enjoy musicals, it's strange to enjoy a musical film as much as I enjoy this. The absurdity of, well, every single facet of this film, makes it perfect for my sense of humour. I don't think I would go so far as to put the songs into a regular music rotation, but they are super fun to watch with the movie. The story is not exactly a complex tapestry of symbolism and metaphor, but it is enjoyable and the characters are all likeable in one way or another. When I watch this, I know that by the end I will have a smile on my face.
My view is likely very biased, as this (alongside "I'm a Cyborg, but that's okay") has a huge amount of nostalgia & brings back many happy memories.
The only thing there is to dislike is that as far as I can tell, nobody has digitally remastered it, so I am stuck with my copy on VCD... and the picture quality is abysmal.
I truly hope to be able to see this film in UHD during my lifetime, that would be the best. I love this movie so much, I have been checking every few months to see if it has been released in higher quality for about 12 years now.
I think this movie would be a hit with the Gen Z's, especially now with the popularity of Hallyu in the west.
Should anyone reading this have the opportunity to watch this movie - make sure you do.