Emma Mulhall '23
November 2020
My family and I watched the film adaptation to the hit Broadway musical Hamilton the day it came to Disney Plus on July 3. I was lucky to have already seen it on Broadway when one of my relatives won first row tickets two years ago, but everyone else in my family did not get a chance to see it at all.
Since it first opened in 2015, Hamilton has enjoyed massive mainstream popularity as well as critical acclaim thanks to the play’s groundbreaking blend of hip hop culture with the traditionally less hip story of our founding fathers. The rap-based soundtrack -- which has become a hit on its own -- provides an often humorous contrast to the play’s 18th-century setting while also making the history more accessible to younger audiences. The play’s inclusion of nonwhite actors for historically white American figures has similarly helped make the history more appealing to nonwhite audiences for whom there is little to no representation in early American history.
My family has since seen a few other shows on Broadway, but none of it compares to what creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and his team came up with. For starters, I love how the choreographers made different characters move in different ways. The main character Alexander Hamilton moves all around the stage, symbolizing how he sees all of the different opportunities and ways to achieve his plans. Meanwhile, the character of Aaron Burr moves in one straight line across the stage, showing how he only sees one way to reach his goals. The lyrics and rhymes that Miranda came up with for each and every number are phenomenal and what I believe to be revolutionary. The acting is another highlight. The actors all play their roles excellently, and you really feel like you were watching the play live.
My rating for the film adaptation of Hamilton is a solid 9.5/10. I took away half a point only because at some points of the film, the camera angles were a little awkward. An example is during the song “The Room Where it Happens”, when the big dance scene is happening and the camera zooms out to reveal the whole stage. It could have been shot a little closer for a better view of the amazing choreography. The key takeaway is that Hamilton holds up as a masterpiece in both the theatre and on the screen. I will definitely continue watching it repeatedly for the next few years.
The film adaptation of Hamilton: An American Musical is available to watch exclusively on Disney Plus.