Do we need to talk about Bruno? Not when there’s another smash-hit musical headed our way for Christmas 2022, filling the big, big gap that the beloved Encanto left last year. Not an animation, Matthew Warchus’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic kids book is a traditional cinema musical in ye olde style, and that’s for the best; a novel, then a 1993 film, then a musical sensation thanks to the spiky, melodic songs of Tim Minchin, Matilda has been a sure-fire hit waiting in the wings for over a decade. Matilda is currently the number one movie in the UK, having kept Black Panther 2 off the top for three weeks and counting. With Netflix holding the international rights, but hiving the UK rights off to Sony, this will be a Christmas Day streaming present for most of the world; for once, it’s a rare win for British cinemagoers, because Matilda turns out to be a great big screen experience with singable choons to spare.
For many, the macabre stories of Roald Dahl found their perfect expression through the drawings of the great illustrator Quentin Blake; live action often seems like something of a come-down for Dahl’s vibrant, often repellant but always memorably un-PC characters. But Matilda the Musical has a bucket-load of terrific tunes to deliver, from showstoppers When I Grow Up and My House to rebellious anthems like Revolting Children and Naughty, and Warchus and screenwriter Dennis Kelly know exactly how to bring their stage show to the screen. There’s a winning lead from Alisha Weir as the precocious Matilda, amusingly grotesque support from Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough as Matilda’s slovenly, self-absorbed parents, and a knockout turn from a resurgent Emma Thompson as the fearsome headmistress Miss Trunchbull.
Matilda is a simple story, artfully told. She’s a precocious little girl who loves reading and stories, and her first teacher, Miss Honey (Lashana Lynch) realises that Matilda is a genius. But Miss Honey is answerable to the fearsome Agatha Trunchbull (Emma Thompson), who thinks of children as maggots and is prone to grabbing them by their ears and flinging them out of the school-grounds like the hammer-thrower that she used to be. Thompson rocked the entertainment value meter in last year’s Cruella, and excels again with some breakout songs (The Hammer, The Smell of Rebellion), a truly outlandish appearance and an iconic take on one of Dahl’s darker characters.
If Thompson’s wildly entertaining performance is the one that’ll leave your jaw on the floor, she’s only part of a brash, colourful production that’s always on point, faithful to the musical and finding ingenious cinematic analogues for theatrical bits; there’s also some product placement for Scotland’s national drink, Irn-Bru, with Matilda’s anti-establishment behaviour on brand for the irreverant tone of their advertising campaigns. The big picture is that Netflix have bought up most of Dahl’s work, and this serves as a slam-dunk opener to the era of their adaptations. Matilda deserves to be first out of the gate since the package comes with a joyous soundtrack baked into the mix, making it an automatic can’t-miss success and a sheer pleasure for kids of all ages.
I thought this was going to be about a boxing kangaroo.
It is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xedLUHtHP0
You see, now that’s quality programming. So much bait and switch going on around here . . .
You never heard of Roald Dahl?
Um, has he ever heard of ME?
Probably not, since he’s no longer alive. Otherwise he’d be a keen reader of your opinions, I’d imagine .
Ohhh, why’d they have to go and ruin it by making it a musical? And they’re going to do this for all the stories of Dahl? Not cool…
No reason to think they’ll do any of them as musicals other than ones like this which already were. Besides, the music is great!
Thank goodness. maybe they can make 2 good movies if they try for the whole batch…
I’d imagine most of them won’t have songs. Matilda was already a musical before Netflix came along, so it’s an obvious first attempt. It works.
And how does Graham’s acting stack up against Devito’s?
Apples and oranges.
Ahhh, Graham paid you off then.
Gotcha. Say no more…
He’s like that. That kind of grotesque works so well on paper, but not in live action. But Graham gets it right, Carries off green hair and a hat glued to his head. A bold look.
It takes a real man like Devito to truly pull it off. I hope Graham studied the original illustrations by Blake to understand the depths he’d have to sink to.
I’m very fond of Blake’s illustrations. Got him to sign a selection of them, genuinely lovely man. Must look that one out.
His illustrations were truly a matched pair to Dahl’s genius story telling.
Agreed. Would love to see those illustrations come to life. A Roly poly bird!
Urk. Nope.
Sigh. No musicals. Isn’t Little Shop a musical too?
Nope. It’s a movie with a few songs in it.
No, it’s a musical! Proper dozen songs in both.
Whatever, love it anyway.
Left hafway through. All the songs sounded the same. That grimace thing Emma does with her lower lip telegraphed who it was beneath the fat suit. I’m probably in a minority of one.
Right, pistols at dawn them. First you besmirch Minnie Driver and now this. Have been listening to this soundtrack for some time and it works for me. You are in a minority of one and I sentence you to permanent viewings of London Connection until you’re sorry.
I am sorry I went in the first place. Me and modern musicals do not seem to connect.
Cyrano was one that I thought every song sounded the same. But a new good musical is always a bit of an aural blitz. I’ve enjoyed picking this one apart, song by song, but it’s taken days. A Gentleman’s Guide to Murder is another one they should do, a reworking of Kind Hearts. I think musical theatre IP could be a big asset moving forwards.
I suspct you’re a better authority on modern musicals than me. I have learned my lesson and shall steer clear of them in the future.