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Dear Evan Hansen - 8/10
after listening to the motion picture soundtrack i went into this assuming the absolute worst. the tracks were all overly produced. tons of autotune and synthetic instruments being used. major somgs missing and the 2 new numbers didnt add even half enough to replace what was lost.
to my complete surprise half of these issues werent issues. the motion picture soundtrack isnt used in the film. instead the use the best method: the songs are (overwhelmingly) sung live in camera. this is always best. actors are able to act through their singing. instead of matching their faces. for a musical that is as heavy as this one its crucial to hear the pain through theirs mouths as well as to read it on their faces.
the lost tracks are problematic. the 2 tracks added dont add anything of substantial merit. the tracks lpst are all from the parents leaving only 1 (and a half i guess) of the parents tracks. the one track they left is the final number which is a solo by the mother...and its her first number of the picture. so a song that should be reconciling the 2 major plotlines it only deals with 1 since the other is heavily neutered.
this brings me to wonder would the "final" number give the resonance if i didnt already know the value of it since im so familiar with the stage play. hard to say.
i say "final" becauae this film continues for 10 min after having a new ending and a very brief final song. the song is fine but the ending weakens the point by a large magnitude.
all the adaptation quirks aside the film is very good. the performances are really top notch and the editing is very good. and everything not mentioned from the play is just as great as it always was.
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