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Hamilton Movie Review

Hamilton is a 2020 musical film that is basically a live recording of the titular Broadway musical. It was a great opportunity for everyone to witness a Broadway play outside of a theatre.

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“If it takes fighting a war for us to meet,

it will have been worth it“

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Divided in two acts, the musical depicts the life and career of Alexander Hamilton, an orphaned immigrant from the Caribbean island of Nevis. The first act covers Hamilton’s arrival in New York City in 1776, his work as an aide-de-camp to General George Washington during the American Revolution, and how he met and married Eliza Schuyler. The second act covers Hamilton’s postwar work as the first Secretary of the Treasury of the United States and his death in a duel with Aaron Burr.

Historically speaking, this is a very interesting story. Yes, the characters are all played by minorities, but that did not bother me, but was rather interesting and great for adding new talent, and I will talk about them in just a moment. But seeing the politics and early history of the US was different, not that much dramatized previously, and necessary for anyone interested in history. Although it doesn’t fully acquaint you with everything that happened due to its musical trappings, it still mostly succeeds as a rousing period piece.

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Daveed Diggs is terrific and very energetic in his two important roles, Jonathan Gross is hilarious as over-the-top King George III with most of his scenes being among the funniest in the musical, and Renee Elise Goldsberry is wonderful as Angelica Schuyler. Leslie Odom Jr. is very underrated as memorable Aaron Burr and similar praise should be bestowed upon Phillipa Soo who is simply wonderful as charming Eliza Schuyler. Her singing voice is the best of the bunch for sure. Unfortunately, only Lin-Manuel Miranda is the weak link as his acting’s the weakest, but at least others manage to lift him up considerably.

Hamilton is above all else a musical, and a glorious one without any doubt. Yes, it features overly modern hip-hop and pop tunes, but they are mostly so damn catchy and fun that they significantly amplified the overall enjoyment of the show. I did find the songs in the second half obviously much inferior to the previous ones, but there are a couple of good ones to be found there as well.

The World Was Wide Enough is probably the best among the later ones, but the greatest numbers are My Shot, which is very entertaining, Satisfied, which is eclectic, and also Wait for It that acts as such a wonderful I Wish sort of number that’s also beautifully sung and very catchy and memorable. My favorite song, though, has to be Helpless. It’s the type of fun pop song that I adore. It’s elevated by a powerhouse singing turn from Phillipa Soo, an incredibly catchy chorus, a wonderfully romantic finale and the backup vocals are stunning as are the dances.

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Hamilton is a technical marvel to behold. Not only are the costumes simply gorgeous, but the sets and the overall production design is meticulously crafted and highly memorable. The dancing choreography is stunningly crafted and the whole musical is flawless in terms of execution. As for the film treatment, it’s of course not as great as I imagine a live show is, but for those of us who aren’t living in America, this was a great way to finally enjoy Broadway in its full glory. The direction and editing are solid enough that they did not distract from the viewing experience at all.

Thanks to Disney, all of us not living in America can finally enjoy witnessing a Broadway production in its full glory. The directing and editing are just solid enough that they did not distract from the viewing experience. Hamilton is just as great as its reputation precedes it – the performances are fantastic, the choreography is stunning, the overall technical aspects are undeniably impressively mounted, and the storyline is engaging and very well crafted. It succeeds as a stupendous musical that is a joyous, involving watch throughout its long runtime. The highlights among the musical numbers are Satisfied, Wait for It and very catchy and memorable Helpless.

My Rating – 4.5

You can get the entire Hamilton recording on Amazon.