Danny DeVito’s 1996 Matilda is my sister’s favourite movie, and therefore, a respected and very familiar movie of mine as well, as it was on in our household all the damn time (!). My sister and I went and saw Matilda the Musical on stage, and of course, it wasn’t our Matilda, so we hated it, although I’m sure it had some merit. As an avid fan of Roald Dahl, I’ve also read all his children’s novels, including Matilda, and so I know what’s going on in reference to the source material too 🤓 I imagine this review will be less an objective report (as if any review is ever) and more a griping comparison of the two cinematic adaptations – are you ready for that? I didn’t watch this movie when it came out because I wanted to give myself enough space to get into the zone. Here goes…
While most babies might feel loved and cherished, some people come into this world against their parent’s will. Matilda Wormwood (Alisha Weir) is one said child, and when the school board gets whiff that she is not attending school, Matilda finds herself on a course to Crunchem Hall, governed by the ruthless Miss Agatha Trunchbull (Emma Thompson). Miss Honey (Lashana Lynch) is a sweet teacher who tries to nurture Matilda’s incredible intelligence, but if Matilda is going to find justice against the Trunchbull and her cantankerous parents, she’s going to have to get a little bit naughty.
Well, I might’ve overestimated how much friction I’d feel for this musical, potentially softened up to the upcoming differences having seen the show first on stage. This movie boasts a consistent good energy, and great pacing for the most part. Sometimes the lack of practical sets gets tiresome, but I can see an argument in how the picturesque and imaginative qualities of Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical sometimes require some computer-generated assistance. I also can’t help but think that some of the practical settings – the tacky Wormwood residence, and Miss Honey’s classroom – have found inspiration in the original movie’s set designs as well, and I think that’s neat. Ultimately, I understand that this movie doesn’t impact my admiration for the original Matilda, nor is it really made for those who already find pleasure in an existing Matilda – there’s a whole new generation out there to make an audience, and, granted, a budding crop of creative people who want to have a whack at their own manipulations. I think this movie does a fantastic job of condensing and expanding out the stage play for a world on the silver screen – screenwriter Dennis Kelly and director Matthew Warchus must get credit for that. There’s even a couple of smaller story details that I think greater improve the overall picture of Matilda, like the presence of other schoolteachers at Crunchem Hall, who are senile and possibly sedated, and how schoolmate Eric (Andrei Shen) sets up the upcoming possibility of Matilda’s telekinesis.
I do think this movie is hurt by the fact that the Wormwoods don’t have a boy – in Danny DeVito’s Matilda, the Wormwoods aren’t so mean to Matilda as much as they dismiss her, and mostly because they don’t understand her. Matilda’s brother Michael adds to the Wormwoods a sense of family and duty, much like Dudley does in Harry Potter for the Dursleys; whereas these parents are just assholes, and it makes you wonder why they never dropped Matilda off some time at a nearby orphanage. But then, when Matilda does get naughty, with these Wormwoods the way they are, it’s easy to watch and whisper, *it runs in the family*, as there’s something screwy about all these Wormwoods – I would call this Matilda a wild scrapper, whereas Mara Wilson’s original Matilda was a much more considered, reserved outlier. I did think this cheekier version of Matilda might get annoying, but she’s alright, and simply a different version of what has come before. Coincidentally, I did try to keep in mind another example of Roald Dahl onscreen adaptations, in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and Tim Burton’s remake, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and consider how I think the latter is not so much a ‘bad’ movie, like many people do, but just intentionally different. Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical is certainly going for a more heightened reality whereas I think Danny DeVito’s version can take pride in trying to remain as grounded as possible, even alongside hammer-thrown-pigtails and flying chalk-dusters.
But pardon me for being a stickler; doesn’t this Matilda’s righteousness contradict with her objecting to Harry Wormwood (Stephen Graham) welding two halves of a car together? Isn’t he just writing his own story too, standing up to injustices he sees in the world? Also, how does Matilda know Miss Honey’s backstory without being told? I guess it’s all just part of her “fizzing”, but I wonder if you didn’t know where the escapologist story was going, what a neutral audience would make of its diversion. Because it is dark, and seems in deep contrast to the actual antagonists out there for Matilda to rebel against. Yes, Miss Honey’s backstory is dark in the original as well, but it’s quick, over in an instant. The children at Crunchem Hall have a prefect system here too, but I don’t know if that’s ever explained 🤔 How do you curry favour with Miss Trunchbull? Is a prefect something you want to be? I know, in the original novel, the older student, Hortensia, is quite stern with Matilda too, but I think it makes more sense when all the children are sweet together, bonding over their threat of torture every day. These kids sort’ve swap back and forth; working as one, and teasing each other for upcoming misery. And here’s a question I’ve never had before – why is Miss Trunchbull a Head Mistress at all? In Matilda, I think I assume she’s sort’ve in hiding; perhaps given the school in her fallout with Magnus, which provides an unchallenged safe place where she can enjoy torturing kids, and fake a communal presence so she won’t be accused of murder. But here, her songs make it clear that she wishes to be beyond children, and there’s nothing within an acrobat’s inheritance that says she must run a school.
I was really worried for Emma Thompson as Miss Trunchbull, but she’s entertaining, and I’m so glad they gave her the role and refrained from casting a man in drag as they do on stage. It definitely takes a moment or two to come to terms with the fact that the Trunchbull is singing 😆 The original Trunchbull would detest music, I reckon. Yet I like how the songs frame Matilda and Miss Trunchbull in headbutting opposition, where Matilda is all about not accepting her circumstance, and ‘writing her own story’, while the Trunchbull believes in order that toes the line, much like the way she won Olympic gold for hammer throw. I would describe this Trunchbull as super-strict and highly unreasonable, but probably due to all the singing and dancing, and definitely because I’m now an adult, she never felt scary like the previous one, which I would label as an unhinged anarchist. There may have even been a couple of moments where I was rooting for the Trunchbull – when she reveals she’s prepared with a chokey for each of Miss Honey’s revolting upstarts 😈 Impressive upper hand, ma’ lady. And the Trunchbull always has the most delightful insults, doesn’t she? Apparently, all these children are squits 🤣
Even so, Thompson still has a lot to live up to in the great Pam Ferris’s original performance – as does Andrea Riseborough to Rhea Perlman, Stephen Graham to Danny DeVito, and Lashana Lynch to Embeth Davidtz. The original Amanda Thripp can certainly raise her chin in pride for making her pivotal scenes so memorably wonderful by comparison. I wonder how the kids of today would view Mara Wilson’s Matilda after seeing this one. I have a niece approaching 2, and it’s going to be a stimulating experiment seeing which movie she gravitates towards, when my sister undoubtedly shows her both – she’ll probably like neither, because the things her parents like are lame 🤣 Aussie eccentric Tim Minchin has definitely done a fantastic job writing these songs, but without the years of nostalgia baked into them, they won’t beat the joy of hearing ‘Send Me On My Way’ by Rusted Root to a fresh batch of pancakes!
3.5
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