‘ Ladies and gentlemen, this is your king…’
Here’s a list of all film reviews on this cursed blog by genre:
Horror – 320
Science Fiction – 141
Romance – 41
Musicals – 7
Yep. Hundreds of films watched and reviewed over the years. Only seven of them musicals. And even some of those seven are pushing the definition of being a ‘musical’. Is Judy a musical? Not really. More of a biopic. Moana and Coco aren’t really musicals either. Nor is Nashville. So, that leaves Chicago, La La Land and White Christmas. None of this bodes well for Hamilton. A ‘film’ that isn’t actually a film but a taped performance of a live showing. Should it qualify for the IMDB top 250? I would argue not. Alas, it’s on there. And so, I had to watch it…
The story of the American Revolution as told by Alexander Hamilton (Lin-Manuel Miranda). Lots of singing. Lots of rapping. Lots of dancing. Incessant, really. Not much else to report in terms of plot.
I should say off the bat that I don’t care about American history, their grandiosity on the subject also annoys me, and I’m downright hostile towards musical theatre. Again, I’m only watching this film to tick it off a long list. A list that I’m now nearly done with, and so, I’m scraping the barrel. As expected, I just didn’t get Hamilton. I understand it’s an incredible achievement in terms of musicality, set design and costume, but… it’s boring, isn’t it? And boy, does it go on forever. So much singing. I’d heard a lot about how good the songs were in this thing, but in reality, as with all musical theatre, it all just sounds like one long drone. That’s why it’s so easy to parody. Because it’s rubbish.
This will no doubt bother any Hamilton enthusiasts out there, but just be rest assured that I understand this wasn’t made for me, and I promise I’ll never speak of it again.