First it was a book by Roald Dahl, then a 1996 movie. Then came a musical stage play, and now this is a movie version based on that, complete with memorable songs like ‘When I Grow Up’, ‘Revolting Children’ and ‘Naughty’.
It’s a fun, joyous adaptation of the story of Matilda (Weir), an extremely bright girl who is hated and ignored by her own parents (Riseborough and Graham, looking like they are having heaps of fun as the exaggerated Wormwoods) and finds her only escape is reading books. That is until she is sent to a school run by the tyrannical Miss Trunchbull (Thompson), where she makes friends and bonds with teacher Miss Honey (Lynch), who realises Matilda’s true potential.
The adventures Matilda has at school will enchant kids, as will her antics at home (she glues her dad’s hat to his head and replaces his shampoo with bleach that turns his hair green) and her telekinetic talents that start displaying themselves at school. Weir is a real discovery, perfect in the role as Matilda – and not remotely grating or too sweet for adult audiences – and she is surrounded by a terrific cast, most notably Emma Thompson, complete with angled jaw, heavy-weight costume and severely pulled-back hair, who is just as mean, nasty and hilariously awful as you would want evil Truchbull to be.
The stage musical has been a deserved hit in London for years, and if you have seen the show and loved it, or always wanted to catch it but weren’t able to, this is a lovely alternative that deserves to become a classic kids movie in years to come.
Is Matilda The Musical suitable for kids? Here are our parents’ notes...
Very young children may find Trunchbull scary.
There is a story within the story about an escapologist and an acrobat attempting a daring feat that may worry young viewers.
There is a scene in which Trunchbull forces one of the children to eat a whole chocolate cake which very little viewers may be upset by.
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