I have never read the book. When I'm talking about the "original Matilda" I'm referring to Matilda in the 1996 film (played by Mara Wilson) which I've seen many times.
Let me start on a positive note.
Tim Minchin is an absolute genious and his songs are brilliant.
Emma Thompson's performance was outstanding as always.
I liked the casting for Matilda and miss Honey and I thought the cinematography was beautiful.
That said, please don't watch this with the idea that it's going to be anything like the original film because you will end up dissapointed, like I was.
I felt there was a lack of chemistry between Matilda and miss Honey where in the original film you could feel their inescapable connection through the screen. I understand that the writers wanted to capture their connection by letting Matilda experience miss Honey's life story in her mind, but I didn't really like this take on their story.
The "original" Matilda was sweet, innocent, brave and kind and Matilda in this film is a little too forward for my taste. She lost her charm and could sometimes even be considered a little annoying.
Also, she may come across as a girl with mental health issues rather than a really clever individual. The original Matilda was also quite funny and witty while Matilda in this film is mostly angry and confused.
I think the story lost it's spark here and there. The original film is full of hope, joy and love and this film was a lot darker and heavier.
There were also a few things I missed when I'm comparing the film to the original. I didn't like the ending where miss Honey offers to adopt Matilda. I always really liked it that in the original film Matilda carries around adoption papers hoping that someday she'll be able to escape her awful parents. I also didn't like the whole scene where Matilda scares away miss Trunchbull. It was too much. The simplicity of the scene where "Magnus" writes on the board scaring miss Truncbull away in the original film was so much more real and vulnerable. This whole scene was just way too intense to keep it realistic, even though it's a fantasy movie of course. Like I said before, it lost it's charm.
All together: I didn't hate the movie but I didn't love it either. It was okay. I think you'll love it if you're not familiar with the original film or the book.
One last note: I think this movie is definitely not suitable for children.
Let me start on a positive note.
Tim Minchin is an absolute genious and his songs are brilliant.
Emma Thompson's performance was outstanding as always.
I liked the casting for Matilda and miss Honey and I thought the cinematography was beautiful.
That said, please don't watch this with the idea that it's going to be anything like the original film because you will end up dissapointed, like I was.
I felt there was a lack of chemistry between Matilda and miss Honey where in the original film you could feel their inescapable connection through the screen. I understand that the writers wanted to capture their connection by letting Matilda experience miss Honey's life story in her mind, but I didn't really like this take on their story.
The "original" Matilda was sweet, innocent, brave and kind and Matilda in this film is a little too forward for my taste. She lost her charm and could sometimes even be considered a little annoying.
Also, she may come across as a girl with mental health issues rather than a really clever individual. The original Matilda was also quite funny and witty while Matilda in this film is mostly angry and confused.
I think the story lost it's spark here and there. The original film is full of hope, joy and love and this film was a lot darker and heavier.
There were also a few things I missed when I'm comparing the film to the original. I didn't like the ending where miss Honey offers to adopt Matilda. I always really liked it that in the original film Matilda carries around adoption papers hoping that someday she'll be able to escape her awful parents. I also didn't like the whole scene where Matilda scares away miss Trunchbull. It was too much. The simplicity of the scene where "Magnus" writes on the board scaring miss Truncbull away in the original film was so much more real and vulnerable. This whole scene was just way too intense to keep it realistic, even though it's a fantasy movie of course. Like I said before, it lost it's charm.
All together: I didn't hate the movie but I didn't love it either. It was okay. I think you'll love it if you're not familiar with the original film or the book.
One last note: I think this movie is definitely not suitable for children.