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‘Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical’ Review: How Netflix’s West End Adaptation Compares To The Beloved 1996 Movie

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‘Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical’ Review: How Netflix’s West End Adaptation Compares To The Beloved 1996 Movie

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'Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical' Review: How Netflix's West End Adaptation Compares To The Beloved 1996 Movie
'Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical' Review: How Netflix's West End Adaptation Compares To The Beloved 1996 Movie

Tim Minchin's smash hit, Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical, grew up – or rather the musical of the same name, with overweight children, forbidden chocolate cake and the world's greatest director.

The description of the new musical is like your amazingly clever song. Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical is a Netflix film adaptation of the Olivier Award-winning West End musical based on Roald Dahl's 1988 children's book. Inspired by the beloved 1996 Danny DeVito film, the book clearly inspired some of the characters and new music. (More on this soon!) The Netflix adaptation is in good hands, with series writer Dennis Kelly and director Matthew Warchus helming the screen version of the Royal Shakespeare Company's production.

How does Matilda the musical on Netflix compare?

Film adaptations of musicals like In the Heights and West Side Story set the tone for how musicals can be portrayed on screen. Matilda takes advantage of good opportunities but may miss a good opportunity.

Warchus and Kelly bring their theatrical sensibilities to songs like the apricot-tinted watercolor opener "Miracle" and "Rebellious Child." "School Song," a stage hit, features sharp choreography with a cast of young actors, filling cameras on zoom walks, and a relaxed interpretation of the stage version's beautiful alphabet sequence through the classroom door. While the musical has some great creative sequences, the second act "When I Grow Up" star doesn't get the treatment he deserves for this groove set number. Where is this instability? Swing! Without them, nothing special is lost.

Fans will recognize direct references to Dale's book and some of DeVito's soundtrack (see: Amanda Tripp as a sledgehammer slinger). However, some of the best musical sequences come from the surreal, terrifying and wonderful world of Matilda, which tells the story of an acrobat (Lauren Alexandra) and Magnus the Escapologist (Carl Spencer).

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In addition to the lack of flops , Matilda has excellent ensembles filled with beautiful embellishments. In contrast to the gloom of Crankham Hall, the strange halls come with another glorious visual torture: Wormwood House's lavish decor. With its bright pink scalloped pool, fringe chandeliers, and "it doesn't happen in a microwave" dinner, the Wormwood home is perfect for DeVito's slick, groovy film.

Lashana Lynch steals the show as Miss Honey.

Lashana Lynch stars. © Powered by Mashable's Lashana Lynch .

Undoubtedly, Matida 's stunning performance comes from No Time to Die and Queen King stars Lashana Lynch, who seamlessly navigates Crunchy Hall's best teacher to face her fears, confront a bully, and find her freedom. Bringing the kindness, logic and inspiration that Embeth Davidge made her mark in the 1996 film to Mrs. Jennifer Honey, Lynch breaks the show with a stunning performance of "Beth." And it's at this point that Lynch's self-confidence and inner fear disappear, creating an overwhelming air of fear around the role of Matilda's turning point, Miss Trunchbull.

Emma Thompson as Agatha Trunchbull, our eccentric fantasy master racketeer and child-hater. It's a serious concert. In the year In the 1996 film, the character adapted Dahl's book to a great performance by Pam Ferris, spit and shout "Tally Ho!" And he's drawn to the power of one of Hollywood's greatest villains of all time.

Face-mounted and already sneered at with thick prosthetics, Thompson's trench rides on dark contempt rather than a hungry ferris of sadism. As the film progresses, the drama builds in intensity. Thompson seems deliberately boring as he tortures poor old Bruce Bogruther with sweets, but eventually the character finds a messy outlet that he enjoys in the second half. As Thompson put it as Trunchbull, "If I can't make you uncomfortable, how can I be your boss?"

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Emma Thompson is taking a ditch. © Mashable's Emma Thompson took a whiz .

A great addition to the musical is the character development of Mrs. Phelps, the librarian, who connects with Matilda over their shared love of stories and reading.

Comedian Sindhu Vth plays the role in the film, reminding the audience how important this character is to the development of Matilda's imagination. (She doesn't appear until the beginning of Dahl's book and DeVito's film.) He makes every scene count by capturing each of Matilda's dramatic stories with a few pops and steals most of the laughs from the crowd at the BFI 2022 London screening of the film. Holiday.

How does Matilda the musical compare to Danny DeVito's Matilda?

The musical Matilda is a huge opportunity for young actors in terms of casting. And the men who make up the couple, the supporting roles and the main cast, from Rei Yamauchi Fulker as Lavender to Charlie Hodson-Pryor as Bruce Bogtrotter, Misha Garbett as Hydrania and Winter Jarrett Glasspool as Amanda Tripp. .

Alisha Weir took on the title role of Matilda Wormwood, finding her footing on stage in the shadow of Oliver's winning cast and starring Mara Wilson in the 1996 film.

It's hard to compare Weir and Wilson as the film version and the musical Matilda because they both bring a unique emotional intensity to their main characters. Wilson is brave, tough and dangerous. Dam is powerful, dramatic and angry. The latter is like a young Hermione Granger with her powerful Carrie, escaping her parents' abuse with her imagination and dealing with bullies. In 10 minutes, Weir Minchin's beautiful poem "Silence" teleports destruction from an air balloon trap into the pit. And both feel the sincerity of the characters they create.

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Alisha as a hero name Weir. © Mashable Featured by Alisha Weir Champion .

Absinthe is hard work to deal with. As Guinea Wormwood's obnoxious mother Matida, Andrea Riseborough is hilariously over the top, evoking pure hatred for her hard-working daughter in a gorgeous outfit by fashion designer Rob Howell. (No small nod to Rhea Perlman's theme of "You choose the book, you choose the look" in the 1996 film The Priest. But it delivers its own version of comic entertainment with impossibly white teeth.

Dear scary people. © Mashable Powered by The Glorious Terribles .

Having previously done it on stage, the musical was able to withstand the pressure of finding its legs in the shadow of the 1996 Matilda Dahl-loved film version of the book . . With a cast of misfit children, a formidable adult cast, a strong young lead and great songs by Minchin, Warchus, Kelly manages to bring the West End musical to the screen.

Roald Dahl's musical Matilda is now available on Netflix.

UPDATE : December 19, 2022 11:04AM EST Roald Dahl's musical Matilda was reviewed when it premiered at the London Film Festival on October 5. The review has been reprinted and linked to the Netflix original.

Matilda (2022) – Movie Review | Better than a Danny DeVito movie?

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