Matilda the Musical blends a remarkable young lead, superb ensemble, great production design, and more to create a unique take on a classic tale.
Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical Review
Whatever your thoughts on Roald Dahl as a person, his unrivalled ability to capture the childhood experience cannot be denied. Through a wonderous concoction of twisted fantasy, grotesque adults, and a lack of sentimentality, Dahl’s stories have kept young minds positively fizzing for decades.
It’s a tough balance to strike for any writer, let alone a children’s one, yet Dahl found it on an impressively regular basis, and nowhere is this more evident than with ‘Matilda’. One of the late author’s finest works, ‘Matilda’ was a huge success, spawning a number of adaptations, most notably a Danny DeVito-starring movie and a 2010 West End musical.
As such, considering these successes, is there really a need for yet another adaptation? Or even an adaptation of an adaptation?
Armed with a sharp mind and a vivid imagination, Matilda Wormwood (Alisha Weir) is unafraid to embrace her curiosity. While her loathsome parents (Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough) are happy to content themselves with trashy TV and crooked schemes, Matilda loves nothing more than to lose herself in her beloved books. Harnessing newly-discovered powers and her remarkable courage, she battles the odds to stand up for what’s right and is met with miraculous results.
Matched only by ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, ‘Matilda’ has managed to permeate popular culture more than almost any other Roald Dahl book. It’s a story with so much triumph, darkness, and twisted charm that its inimitable powers have allowed it to truly stand the test of time, while leaving it wide open for constant reinvention.
Despite Dahl’s open distain for the 1996 film, it remains one of the finest adaptations of his work, followed closely by Tim Minchin’s stage musical. Like any good story, however, as long as the love is there, there’s always room for more reinterpretations, and Matilda the Musical feels like the perfect retelling for a new generation.
With just the right blend of book and stage show, together with a dash of its big screen predecessor, Matilda the Musical hits a sweet spot that should keep everyone happy. While there’ll always be the temptation to dial up either the story’s dark or lighter side, the film lands somewhere in the middle, striking an appropriate tonal balance that even Roald Dahl himself would’ve found hard to fault.
It’s probably fair to say that big screen Dahl adaptations can be a little hit and miss, with several past attempts missing the mark. So, when a huge name like Netflix ties itself to such a project, it’s hard not to wince, however, Matilda almost instantly calms such worries with an approach that’s faithful to the source material while offering something all of its own.
Unafraid to wholeheartedly embrace its musical leanings, Matilda instantly puts itself apart from the 1996 movie, offering an impressively faithful take on the stage show while imbuing it all with a heightened cinematic feel that demands you ditch your TV to catch it on the biggest screen possible.
Big and bold without overwhelming the story, Matilda’s production design hits all the right notes, transporting us from the stage to the screen without skipping a beat, all while harnessing the wonderfully weird imagery you expect from a Roald Dahl tale. Whether it’s big song and dance numbers or the immaculately presented scenery, the film is a visual delight that never loses sight of the dark, raggedy edges the story demands.
Needless to say, your personal threshold for musicals (especially ones largely sung by children) will ultimately dictate how much you embrace Matilda. Arriving at a rate of knots, the tunes are absolutely stuffed into the film’s two-hour runtime, making it very much the all-singing, all-dancing version of the story that’s always likely to split a room.
Quite rightly, Matilda makes no apologies for its musicality, and judged as such, the film must be considered a triumph. Although not all the songs survive the transition from stage to screen, the majority do, and from introspective ballads like “Quiet” to big, fist-pumping numbers like “Revolting Children,” the film does a fantastic job of capturing the essence of Tim Minchin’s award-winning music while knowing just how to make it work on screen.
Without taking the spotlight away from our titular hero, Matilda the Musical feels like far more of an ensemble piece than we ever got with the original movie, utilising an extended cast and a bolstered story to ensure it feels heftier than anything we’ve had before. Although these expansions do make things feel a little less personal, they afford both Matilda and those around her the time and space to breathe.
Leading the line, young Alisha Weir swiftly grows into the role of Matilda Wormwood, proving herself a true star in the making and a worthy successor to Mara Wilson’s iconic performance. Injecting a unique emotional energy into the role, Weir embraces the legacy of the Matilda character while offering an intensity that’s completely her own.
Around her, the young ensemble of friends and revolting classmates really breathe life into the film. As with any young cast, performance levels vary, yet every one of them give all they’ve got for the cause with their extraordinary collective energy hard to fault, especially with the more upbeat numbers.
Complementing them nicely, the film’s grownup cast are impeccable across the board and clearly having a blast with the material. Of them, Lashana Lynch as Miss Jennifer Honey is undoubtedly head of the class. Infusing her character with a quiet compassion, Lynch takes Miss Honey to the next level, pouring her heart into her musical moments, most notably the breath-taking “My House,” one of Matilda’s most poignant numbers.
Alongside Lynch, Andrea Riseborough and Stephen Graham are suitably loathsome as Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood, while the expanded role for Sindhu Vee’s Mrs Phelps is an unexpected treat, however, it’s Emma Thompson’s Miss Trunchbull that dominates proceedings.
It’s no mean feat to step into Pam Ferris’ intimidating platform shoes, yet Emma Thompson does so in an appropriately Emma Thompson fashion. Caked in prosthetics and stuffed into a fat suit, Thompson’s approach to the iconic villain is initially relatively restrained, however, she gradually grows with the role, landing on something both fiercely chaotic and truly menacing.
The result, as with the film itself, is utterly its own thing. Stepping out from the shadow of its predecessors, Matilda the Musical blends a remarkable young lead, superb ensemble, great production design, and Tim Minchin’s infectious tunes to offer a unique, toe-tapping take on the Roald Dahl classic.
Rating: 4 out of 5
NEXT: Monster High: The Movie (2022) Review
About Matilda The Musical
Matilda, an extraordinary girl armed with a sharp mind and a vivid imagination, dares to take a stand against her oppressive parents and head teacher to change her story with miraculous results.
Matilda the Musical played at the London Film Festival and comes to Netflix December 2022.
