Roald Dahl’s Matilda is so great, despite the questionable stage musical.
I’ve been a bit of a Matilda hater ever since I saw it in New York with my friend Richard one afternoon. It was either Matilda or the short-lived Tupac musical Holler if Ya Hear Me and Matilda won out. I just really did not like it. Fast forward to today, after seeing the new Netflix film adaptation, I’m a believer.
This adaptation gets it so right. It’s an instant classic and, in my opinion, a master class in musical film making. Here’s why I think this version was so much better than the stage production.
Tim Minchen is a great songwriter, but his music is so dense, it really should be heard with headphones. When I saw it on stage, I struggled to understand the army of kid actors singing with thick British accents. The film helps out. I’m not sure if they dialed down the accents or everyone is just mic’d very well, but I found the songs infinitely more engaging and understandable.
Just because you find that life’s not fair, it
Doesn’t mean that you just have to grin and bear it
If you always take it on the chin and wear it
Nothing will change
Naughty – Tim Minchen
All of the casting is good, but I found Lashana Lynch‘s portrayal of Miss Honey especially heartwarming. She’s really somebody to watch. So much range. In a short period of time, she was a lead in a James Bond film, appeared in Dr Strange Multiverse of Madness and also starred in Woman King.
And then, of course, there’s that crazy-ass dance number that went viral. Kudos to the marketing team.
2 responses to “And if it’s not right, you have to put it right…”
About a minute in to the flick, I had to turn on subtitles. As someone who usually can understand English-language-with-any-thick-accent, I had a hard time understanding.
I didn’t enjoy Alisha Weir’s Matilda. I thought she just wasn’t that expressive and even came off as evil at times. Maybe that’s closer to the source material, which I really should read sometime. Once I was able to detach myself from the sweetness of the Danny DeVito/Mara Wilson version. This was a good time even with being surprisingly dark in a few moments. Lashana Lynch was fantastic and such a contrast from her Nomi in 007. (I would LOVE to see her take over the James Bond franchise! Hopefully she’ll be busy with Marvel as well.) Emma Thompson was so, so good as the Trunchbull, just incredible.
The ensemble of kiddos really stole the show for me, as I expected them to. They were all just so on-point all the time. Whenever they had a big number my jaw would be on the floor in awe of all the talent on screen. They were what I was looking forward to and totally delivered.
Oh yeah, the kids were so good. And the director really gave several of them a chance to shine.
I agree about Emma Thompson. She nailed it.