Critics reviews

Hamilton’s topsy-turvy spectacle recalls the racial reversal Jean Genet originated in The Blacks (1959), only Genet’s overt political intent (his mockery of colonial racism) is subsumed by the energy of hip-hop and its superficial polemics.

The greatness of Miranda’s songs lies in the diversity of their musical styles and the choices he makes for each number. Since almost every word in the musical is sung, it’s a lot of fun discovering what combination of rap, r&b, gospel and power ballad he’ll employ.

As I watched this time, it felt right to me that we were seeing this in 2020, but also, it reads differently as both a text and an act of casting and staging than it did for me five years ago.

The heady chemistry of the cast is no secret, but the film’s closer-than-front-row perspective makes the viewer party to how smoothly the rapped, spoken, and sung lines are bandied about. Still, aside from a mercifully rare bird’s-eye-view from the rafters, the show looks and feels like theatre.

One of the marvels of the show is the way it brings long-dead, legend-shrouded people to vivid and sympathetic life.

instead of delimiting what we see of Hamilton, this film opens up our options. Even when the camera (one of many installed around, behind, and above the stage) homes in on a lone singer, the shots tend to frame the soloists in a larger context.