This adaptation of the stage musical and the second film adaptation of the book by Roald Dahl is about Matilda (played by Alisha Weir), a super smart, nice girl with lousy, awful parents (Stephen Graham and Oblivion's Andrea Riseborough), who gets sent to Crunchem Hall, where she ends up in conflict with the harsh and controlling headmistress Miss Trunchbull (Emma Thompson).
This was directed by Matthew Warchus, the stage director of the original musical. Though directors don't always make a successful transition to screen when adapting a musical (like with the Producers, it just seemed to utilize basic shots of the same choreography from the musical without much utilization of what the camera and editing could do), but I'm proud to say that Warchus is up there with the guys who did The Music Man and 1776 when it came to making a successful jump to screen; a really successful jump to screen, mind you. If you compare some modern musicals to those of the golden age, you may notice that the musical numbers often don't match the energy, choreography, or amount of detail put into the scene. This is not the case with Matilda. These have some of the best looking, shot and choreographed numbers in recent years. So much effort went into making these scenes feel engaging. This also has one of the most consistent catchiest song tracks in a musical in recent years. The songs by Tim Minchin are very catchy. Sure, there are weaker ones, but there isn't a single straight up bad one in the bunch. If you loved the stage version, be forewarned that from what I hear they had to cut several songs for time, including most for both the parents for time. So, sorry if you liked them.
Understand that the musical adds a little bit to it that makes it darker than either the original book or the Nineties Danny Devito one. (If you're wondering how the musical compares to that one. They follow the same story points basically, but Devito focused more on the broad, dark comedy, whereas this focuses more on the darker and more British elements.) The parents and Trunchbull's abuse may be harsher than you'd expect.
Excellent cast with a lot of great singers, especially the child cast. Alisha Weir gives a great performance, and I'm sorry Mara Wilson fans, but she just does a better job. Emma Thompson under a lotta makeup, plays an absolutely abhorrent but fascinating Trunchbull. I don't know if you can really compare her performance to Pam Ferris in the Devito version. They were both good in different ways. Whereas Ferris was a bulky and physically imposing schoolyard bully, Thompson is more psychologically imposing and even more authoritarian. She's also more unhinged, and for a kids film this does a surprisingly good job of establishing or at least hinting at a psychological profile for the woman.
Highly recommended, the dark tone might be a bit much for very young children (my sister tried to explain to her niece why Matilda's parents were mean to her), and not everyone might be into the Dahl style of playing it dark and broad, but overall this is a very enjoyable and well made musical.
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