Matilda, la comédie musicale

I was watching this thinking how much Alisha Weir's performance in the title role reminded me of Emma Watson's "Hermione" from back in 2001! Feisty and intelligent, she is sent by her parents to the "Cruncher Hall" school where she encounters "Miss Trunchbull" (Dame Emma Thompson). Now this is a teacher who would not have looked out of place working with King Herod at Christmas! The children live in fear of her, as do the staff - but as "Matilda" starts to bond with "Miss Honey" (Lashana Lynch) and realises her true potential, well - a rebellion is soon in the offing! It's a strong story this - Dahl addressed many issues of neglectful parenting, bullying, intimidation and sexual stereotyping and Tim Minchin puts much of that sentiment effectively to music with a clever and entertaining lyric. The almost unrecognisable Dame Emma is on top form exuding an almost ridiculous degree of menace as helped by her array of cctv cameras, she rules the school with a rod of iron. Weir really enters into the spirit of things - she puts her heart and soul into the enthusiastic, mischievous and engaging character and with some enjoyably choreographed ensemble dance numbers this all delivers well. It still has a bit of the theatrical to it, some of the production doesn't quite make the best use of the flexibility the big screen offers, but the toe-tapping "Naughty" and "Revolting Children" help put a smile on your face for a surprisingly quickly-paced two hours.

I have mixed emotions about this. Firstly, I am a BIG fan of the west end musical so I was comparing throughout the whole film. There are many good points of the film. The musical numbers have been greatly throughout , and you can tell it's been greatly considered in how to transfer a stage production into a movie and to present the same emotive experience for the audience. I think the choreography was executed perfectly and the casting was phenomenal. HOWEVER (a big however) The film personally didn't grab me in the way the stage production has. It felt rushed in parts (which is understandable as they are trying to fit a 2. 5 hour production in 2) so the intimate moments between the musical numbers were lost, leaving you feeling slightly detached from the characters. I also couldn't help but reminisce about the 1996 adaption and it's authenticity. This movie was clearly a 'Netflix movie'. A bit uneedingly cgi/green screen happy which irritates me and contributes to the detachment I was feeling throughout. Overall, it was a good try, however the wow factor was lost. I want to think that perhaps I am an adult not understanding the current trends and seeking nostalgia rather than a film that is suited to what the kids want these days. After all this is a kids film and perhaps this was perfect for what they needed.

It's been 26 years since the premiere of Matilda, the iconic film of the nineties and cleverly directed by the great Danny DeVito. Today it is the turn of Matthew Warchus to take over and deliver us a perfect successor to the 1996 film with a sublime musical of the popular Roald Dahl novel.

It is charming, dark and portentous.

The script that Dennis Kelly writes simply shines with mastery to deliver us a movie that completely fills our emotions and sensations. It is a film that enchants from the beginning, but that does not hesitate to take us into darkness, authentically capturing that purest essence of the novel and for that the visual spectacle is totally marvelous that makes us be glued to the screen and simply enter in the musical and lyrical harmony of Tim Minchin that puts the most recent Netflix premiere at our feet.

The cunning with which the director takes Kelly's splendid script to images, allows us to have a first-cut cinematographic experience when watching it. With perfect musical segments in choreography and dance and the darkness in moments of feeling that you are in a subtle world of Stephen King. That combination elevates to a point of maximum enjoyment of everything we are seeing on the screen and to a large extent hypnotized by the photography provided by Tat Radcliffe that intensifies all that greatness that this new version of Matilda supposes that at no time forgets that theatrical blood of which is fed.

That good performance of all of the above mentioned makes us forget about the weak points that the film may have. The perfect compensation so that we end up more than satisfied with what we are seeing.

From the greatness of Emma Thompson to the promise of Alisha Weir.

Undoubtedly the greatest charm that we find is seeing Alisha Weir be the skin of Matilda; The acting charisma with which the little actress dazzles on the screen makes us excited about a promising one and that is that she comes face to face with all the poise of an Emma Thompson and both only make the screen shine with magic when we have them sharing the scene.

I cannot leave aside the correct work that the rest of the children's cast does and seeing Lashana Lynch sing is priceless, in the same way I cannot leave aside the entertaining step of Andrea Riseborough and Stephen Graham as Matilda's parents.

A cast that further highlights the good work that the film had already had.

Conclution.

It is a pleasant surprise, what it means to be the new version of Matilda for Netflix from Sony.

A film full of emotions that transports you through all those sensitive fibers with which we count as a spectator. Joy, darkness, sorrow and hope cover the 117-minute journey to the pleasure of enjoying a perfect adaptation of a novel and a play, capturing the best of both scenarios to provide an enriching experience on the screen.

A film that is worth watching and enjoyed by both adults and children, it is the journey through what it is to be a child and also what it means to be parents, it is a tale of the purest feeling called love.

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.

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.