Hamilton Movie Review

Hamilton (2020)

Hamilton is only Available with a Disney+ Subscription
Written by: Lin-Manuel Miranda (book), Ron Chernow (inspired by the book Alexander Hamilton by)
Directed by: Thomas Kail
Starring: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Daveed Diggs, Leslie Odom Jr., Phillipa Soo, Jonathan Groff, Chris Jackson, Okieriete Onaodowan, Anthony Ramos
Rated: PG-13
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Plot
The life of one of America's foremost founding fathers and first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. This was filmed live on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre with the original Broadway cast.

Verdict
In 2016, Hamilton was the hottest ticket in the nation. The movie doesn't disappoint, exceeding all of my expectations. The story is engrossing and the music is great. The lyrics are even better. It combines hip hop music and the story of a founding father with clever lines. The songs are worth listening to again. It's a transcendent story set hundreds of years ago with a modern perspective. The cast is diverse, a commentary on America now and America then. While this isn't strictly historically accurate, it does provide great insight, a starting point for learning more. It's just so good. Every single facet is done so well. It's an incredible work of art.
Watch it.

Review
I've been waiting to see this for so long. Disney bought it for $75 million and originally planned to release it to theaters in 2021. Due to the pandemic they released it early.

This play dominated pop-culture in 2016. Tickets were nearly impossible to get and ridiculously expensive even if you could find them. 

Lin-Manuel Miranda plays Alexander Hamilton.

Hamilton provides a story to the man behind the name. It's absolutely incredible. The music is great and the lyrics are even better. Who would have thought that joining hip hop music and a founding father would work so well? That is other than Lin-Manuel Miranda who wrote the play and music.
The repetition of refrain and music adds to the narrative. The music serves as a window into Hamilton's mind. We know the previous verses and how that idea will shape his future decisions.

Okieriete Onaodowan, Daveed Diggs, Lin-Manuel Miranda play
James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton.

The lyrics are truly amazing, with great rhymes and a rapid fire pace. They operate on multiple levels, I noticed references to hip hop songs, and I bet there are references to other stage plays. There's a rap battle between Jefferson and Hamilton!

It's just ingenious, every part of this play. It's serious, funny, and touching. Watching it on video is a grand experience. I can only imagine what it would be like to see it live, but the benefit of video is that you're closer to the action than you'd be in a theater and the camera knows where to focus at all times. At a live event, you might miss a facial expression or a visual gag.

The core story, Hamilton's life is engrossing. He started with nothing and became a founding father. His story is diminished because he died early in a dual. Most know that much of the story, the dual between Hamilton and Burr, but this still manages to make that exciting. Liberties are taken with their relationship, they weren't long friends as depicted in the play.

Burr is a contrast to Hamilton. While Hamilton is outspoken to a fault, Burr is reserved. It's this difference that leads to their dual. That's according to the play. Historically Burr earned Hamilton's scorn by ousting Hamilton's father-in-law from the Senate by election. Their dual was a result of remarks Hamilton made about Burr at a dinner. Their disagreement couldn't be resolved through correspondence. The play takes liberties with their story to make a better narrative. I don't fault it for that. I don't watch movies for history lessons.

Daveed Diggs, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Anthony Ramos, Okieriete Onaodowan play
Marquis de Lafayette, Alexander Hamilton, John Laurens, Hercules Mulligan.

Daveed Diggs is amazing. All of the cast is great, bug Diggs gets two great roles in Thomas Jefferson and Marquis de Lafayette. The roles let him shine and it's clear he's having a lot of fun. It's difficult not to just start listing the entire cast as favorites. All of them do a great job.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., Chris Jackson play
Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, George Washington.

There's something about the story of the founding fathers told by a diverse cast, when the country at that time actively discriminated against anyone that wasn't a white man. The cast looks like current America. The only downside to that is that it elevates the historical figures higher than they perhaps should have been.

Lin-Manuel Miranda plays Alexander Hamilton.

This story of Alexander Hamilton unfolds as the story of the nation unfolds. There's a duality between the two as the main song notes. He's "young, scrappy, and hungry just like [his] country."
A constant refrain that shapes the story is that Hamilton is "not going to throw away [his] shot." He strives for greatness and nothing gets in the way of that, not even his family. Every time he gets an opportunity, you know what he'll do. He started with nothing but big dreams and became a founder of America.