This is me bordering into "unpopular opinion" territory again. I don't know what it is with movies this year. Most of those I really looked forward to ended up being a disappointed. I enjoyed the book and I grew up loving the 90's adaptation and I really wanted to love this one, the trailer looked great and I generally love musicals, so I don't know exactly what it is here, that did not sit well with me. Maybe it was the bizarre singing babies opening scene already (creepy af). I never really got around to listen to the musical soundtrack or even watch it, so I went into this adaptation without much knowledge (only song I knew beforehand was 'Revolting Children') and while the music was mostly fine, I found the songs painfully forgettable. The actors were okay, I guess. Matilda's parents were funny, but didn't get enough screentime. Lashana Lynch was lovely as Miss Honey (what a voice!) though I found her a bit too meek for most of the film's run. I usually love Emma Thompson, but she didn't really do it for me as the Trunchbull. Pam Farris was fierce and scary, yet oddly funny and entertaining while Thompson nailed the mean-spirited nature, but failed to evolve above that. Her portrayal felt oddly safe. Young Alisha Weir certainly has screen presence and will go her way (and I don't want to be too critical of child actors, it's more the direction and writing I'm blaming here) but Matilda often felt too serious or even too bratty compared to her book counterpart or the relatable portrayal by Mara Wilson, who made her extraordinarily endearing. I know I shouldn't compare adaptations too much, but I just can't help it. This one was clearly a high value production spectacle but it lacked the heart and soul of the 90s film. The tone was all over the place, it was too long and oddly boring at times. It had it's moments but overall it lacked the certain something. And really, wtf was that added subplot about Matilda's story that turned out to be about Miss Honey's parents? That was just bizarre and unnecessary.

Beautiful adaption of the stage musical and incredibly well made.

Matilda the Musical is a fantastic film, excellently acted by all. Alisha Weir has an amazing set of facial expressions and treated us all to a top-class, humorous performance. Emma Thompson demonstrated her usual prowess with yet another fabulous character realisation, and Stephen Graham is always a pleasure to watch, whether in a light-hearted comedy role such as Mr Wormwood or as an undercover detective investigating an OCG in Line of Duty, or any of the many other characters he's played. I really couldn't find any fault with this production at all, and even if you're not into musicals, give this a go because you will almost certainly enjoy it. The only tragedy is that Roald Dahl himself will never get to see it; I feel sure he'd be very pleased with this adaptation of his fine novel.

Whoever wrote this adaption must have been on something strong. I suppose I wouldn't have been an easy audience. I'm a big fan of Roald Dahl's books and the 1996 "Matilda" is a perfect film. However, I kept a very open mind watching it. (While the 1971 Wonka is perfect too, I also very much enjoyed the 2005 Depp version too. It is possible to do excellent re-makes.) This version of "Matilda" could have been so much better if the songs weren't so forgettable and if they didn't have that strange psychedelic storytelling where Matilda predicts Miss Honey's past. That never happened in the book and it spoiled this version and made it incredibly boring. Like so many bad films, it was very much a missed opportunity. The cast were all fantastic and played the parts how you imagine them all to be when reading the book, even if you haven't seen the original '96 version. With the exception of our dinner lady at school, Mrs Mossop, I didn't think anybody could play Miss Trunchbull as well as Pam Ferris in the original but Emma Thompson does actually do an incredible job. That being said, it would have made more sense for the kids to be singing and dancing around the Trunchbull. I don't think the Trunchbull would be singing and dancing! The strange writing and some of the directing of this film really let it down. The songwriting wasn't particularly great either. Some might really enjoy this film so it might be worth a watch but it's not for me. I'm sending my DVD to the charity shop.

If I had a nickel for every musical film based on a Roald Dahl book and containing a giraffe released in the past year that I watched this week, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.