Film Review: Hamilton

Hamilton: An American Musical is a musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda that tells the story of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. Inspired by the 2004 biography Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, the show casts non-white actors as the Founding Fathers and other historical figures. This is the filmed version of the original Broadway production.

Rating:

I’ve been looking forward to seeing this for so long and bought a month of Disney+ purely so that I could watch it on repeat.

I didn’t know all too much about it beforehand in all fairness, I had only seen the amazing reviews. You can tell that Lin-Manuel Miranda is behind the music and lyrics as you can hear a slight Moana melody to some of the songs. He’s such a talented man.

And Renée Elise Goldsberry, wow! Her voice is incredible. I enjoyed finding out that Daveed Diggs was in it too as I’ve just watched Netflix’s Snowpiercer. And Jonathan Groff! I love him. His role as King George III is hilarious. The whole cast is superb and the stage direction is simply mesmerising.

Casting non-white actors as the Founding Fathers and other historical figures, it’s obvious why there are some controversies around the play because of our history, but I love what Miranda has created. The opportunity he has given to POC is something to be applauded, making something that feels so fresh and passionately-created.

I didn’t know much about the story that it tells but it is told it in such a unique and interesting way. The songs are brilliantly written and there’s a great mixture of hip hop, R&B, pop, and soul that make this musical feel modern, relevant and inspiring.

The lyrics tell the story so well and make you feel all the emotions. I laugh at ‘You’ll Be Back’, I cry at ‘It’s Quiet Uptown’, I play ‘Take A Break’ on a repeat, and I can’t stop singing ‘Say No To This’, ‘The Room Where It Happened’, and ‘My Shot’.

I may have to extend my Disney+ subscription just so that I can watch this a few more times.