Hamilton review, but why? A geek community (2023)

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Hamiltonit is aMusicalFilm based on the Broadway play (based on the biography of Alexander Hamilton written by Ron Chernow) that became a pop culture phenomenon. The film is directed and co-produced by Thomas Kali (in his directorial debut), and Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote, composed, co-produced and starred in the screenplay. For those who might be confused, Hamilton is not a film adaptation of the play, but rather consists of three live recordings of the musical performed at the Richard Rodgers Theater in Midtown Manhattan, New York in June 2016. As the title suggests,Hamiltonfollows the life of Alexander Hamilton, one of America's founding fathers, from his arrival in New York City until his death in a duel with Aaron Burr.

The live recording ofHamiltonsparked a bidding war between several major Hollywood studios, including Disney, Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox (which Disney ended up buying) and Netflix,who fought for the movie rights. Disney, with whom Miranda has collaborated several times since the release ofHamilton, emerged victorious after being personally approached by Disney CEO Bob IgerHamiltonThe producers of the acquisition of film rights. The House of Mouse has acquired worldwide distribution rights for$75 million, which should beone of the most expensive film rights purchases of all time.

I should probably start this review with two things: I've never seenHamilton(the play) and I haven't seen many plays.Hamiltonit opened on Broadway just before I started my freshman year of high school, and I remember a trainee teacher putting it in my American Literature program one mid-year morning. We hear the music"my shot', which I thought was a little amusing at the time (that line from the song 'Britain Keeps Shittin' On Us Endlos' stuck in my head for some reason), but I also thought it was some sort of crude historical rap reminiscent of 'For That' How are you with other children? Instructional videos that teachers always show at school.

From then on, I never understood the hype behind it.Hamilton. What surprised me the most at the time was the whole concept. Who would do a play, let alone an entire musical, about Alexander Hamilton? I would do a biopic, but a full-length musical? but then againAbraham Lincoln Vampire Hunterit exists, so I think the idea is not far-fetched.Hamiltonbroke box office records, won awards, had its soundtrack at the top of the charts for weeks andDas Hamilton-Mixtape, soundtrack inspired by songs from the musical, was filled with praise for many of my favorite artists, and I still don't get it. Why was everyone excited about this? I knew there was no chance of seeing it on Broadway, so I thought it was something I would never understand.

Fast forward to a few years later. Disney takes control of live recording distribution rightsHamilton. Lin-Manuel Miranda, considered one of the most creative people in entertainment today, announced that it will hit theaters on October 15, 2021. I was definitely interested in seeing it to finally see what it was all about. Then COVID-19 hit the world and with all the uncertainty in the world,including the official closure of Broadway until next winter, Disney decided to forgo the theatrical release ofHamiltonand instead launched on Disney+ last Friday, just in time for the July 4th weekend. After seeinghamilton,I came to several conclusions: I need to see more plays, I need to see more musicals, it was worth all the fuss, Lin-Manuel Miranda is a genius, and overall Hamilton was phenomenal.

One of the strongest elements of Hamilton is the performances of its exceptional cast. Everyone here is in awe, especially Miranda and Leslie Odom Jr. I love that Miranda cast Black actors as not only America's Founding Fathers, but all of the supporting characters as well. She is a modern representation of what the country is like today in a colonial setting. The actors play their parts so well that you don't even think about what the characters were really like. I also really enjoyed the play's pro-immigrant stance and kept reminding the audience that Hamilton himself was an immigrant from Nevis ("Immigrants, we do the work' made my parents, both immigrants, laugh. It reminds you that this country was built by immigrants and we would be nowhere without them. I was also very impressed with the quality of the actors' rap. I was really impressed with the breath flows and control.

Daveed Diggs guest appearance on "guns and ships“It really blew me away. The songs and music in Hamilton seriously hit. The lyrics are incredibly well written and the music production sounds great too. Two of my favorite songs from the play were “Helpless"eu"my shot“. 16-year-old me may have thought the latter fell apart, but 20-year-old me hasn't been able to shut it down since seeing the play. In addition to the music, Hamilton differs from other tracks in that almost all of the dialogue is rapped or sung. There is almost no normal dialogue. This has always impressed me. I loved how every meeting of George Washington's cabinet featured rap battles and how King George I'II always sang to the audience about his troubles with the colonists. It's funny, because the piano riffs are a bit similar, I thought George would interfere at certain points."dreamertwo Monkees.

I also really enjoyed collecting the various hip hop Easter eggs on it.Hamiltonuntil. When Hamilton raps"I'm only 19 but my mind is older" no "my shot"So I had to go straight to Mobb Depp's"Confused, paint. II' where this line originally came from. I was also excited every time.”The Ten Commandments of Dueling' was staged as if it were a parody of 'Ten Crack Commanders' by The Notorious B.I.G., one of my favorite songs by them. Thomas Jefferson then drops the line"What a mistake, sometimes I wonder why I bring the thunder', which is a nod to 'The message' by Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five. I could talk about this forever.

The only really negative I have.Hamiltonare some of the film's obvious censors. The film is rated PG-13 and had to censor two occurrences of F-Bomb to avoid an "R" rating. One wonders why Disney didn't put the movie on Hulu since there's still a lot of profanity in the movie. It seems a bit inconsistent. But that's my only real complaint about the movie.

Hamiltonit's fantastic. It is an incredibly written and excellently performed musical that makes history interesting for many young people like me. I really wish this recorded version had been released a few years ago so my sixteen year old son wouldn't have written it off so easily.Hamiltonworth all the hype. It makes you want to see more plays and musicals and really follow the work of Lin-Manuel Miranda. The man really is a creative genius. Honestly, it would be great to see more live recordings of plays (once the pandemic is over, of course) and streaming services.While it might not seem as exciting to see it on a small screen instead of being in the room where it happened, the glow ofHamiltoneasily translated. No matter where you look, it doesn't fire.