Matilda: La comédie musicale

My children are currently rehearsing for this musical with their theatre group so we were looking forward to this.

The songs are all there and brilliantly performed. The staging and filming is so stunning to watch. Emma Thompson plays a good Miss Trunchabull. We all know the story of Matilda so I won't go into that but this is a film for the whole family to enjoy. Don't wait for it to stream on Netflix, this film really benefits from a big screen and awesome sound stage.

I would happily watch this film again, it was an excellent feel good film. The cast were perfect in each of the roles and choreography was brilliant.

There is so much to enjoy about Matilda the Musical.

It captures that certain kind of magic that only a musical can. It is rammed full of top class performances (Emma Thompson shines, and Alisha Weir is terrific in the lead role). The plot is very well put together and is full of outrageous fun and effective comedy. It captures the quirkiness and wonder of Roald Dahl's story perfectly.

The only real drawback for me is the songs. I only found myself properly enjoying the final song and dance. The rest just weren't really my cup of tea. Had there been a couple of more powerful or catchy songs I definitely would have given this film another star or two. I also though some of the acting was hammed up just a little too much for my liking.

Undoubtedly though Matilda is a very entertaining and fun film that will be sure to put a smile on your face.

I took my 8 year old girl and she was mesmerised. She loves the Matilda older movie though and I don't so I was a bit sceptical.

It was really enjoyable, the whole cast were fab especially the kids and Emma Thompson.

The girl playing Matilda was really good in the role, super cute. I must admit I had a few tears at the end of it.

The cinema was full of mums and daughters, with the odd boy and dad. But the whole reactions seemed to be good and especially the Emma Thompson parts, she nailed it. Even scared me lol.

If I had to say a negative thing it was a tad on the long side for me almost bang on 2 hours.

Having seen the stage show several times I was intrigued to see how this would. What this film will suffer from is being compared to the theater version on which it is based.

It is inevitable that to make the transition things would need to be cut, but sadly a lot of what is missing affects the surroundings of Matilda (e.g. The Wormwood's obsession with TV, how odious they are.) Some of what remains speeds by quickly and so doesn't have the impact it really should (e.g. The 'green hair' setup is blink-and-miss-it.)

Sadly, Emma Thompson as Trunchbull didn't work for me; there is more to this nasty character than just shouting at the children and I didn't feel she was intimidating as it needed to be. During 'The Hammer' this is perhaps most noticeable; she sings well but it is much the same delivery throughout - 'shouty' and lacks the cold-hearted simple delivery you get on stage. The accent changes a few times and I couldn't get away from thinking 'That's Emma in a suit' rather than 'what a sinister and intimidating character.'

Minchin's songs though are at least as bright and bouncy as the stage show counterparts. Alisha Weir is a fantastic Matilda and Lashana Lynch as Miss Honey really gets the backstory of the character.

The screen version allows a lot of playful direction too that cannot be achieved in a theater so there is much visual delight to gain from seeing this. A particular highlight is how the Trunchbull is frightened off at the end, which enabled it to be much more 'frightening' than the stage version.

Overall, an enjoyable viewing but you can't help but go away comparing it to the stage show if you've seen it.

The kids were great! The acting, singing, and dancing was all on point. Emma Thompson was also amazing and did a wonderful job.

The other adults on the other hand were sadly forgettable. Even miss honey didn't feel like a main character. I grew up with the old 90's movie Matilda and miss honey was very important and you could feel that she loved Matilda with their acting. This miss honey had a beautiful voice, but it felt like there should have been more scenes with her teaching and talking to Matilda.

I was entertained almost the entire two hours of film which is what i consider good. It's not perfect but it was still fun.