Saturday, August 16, 2014

Movie Review: Matilda

The movie review I am bringing to you today is that of Matilda (Mara Wilson). A fantasy movie from the year 1996 and a perfect watch for the family at home on a weekend. It's hilarious, enjoyable, and also has its own share of exaggerations but I am sure you will enjoy it.

Based on Roald Dahl's popular book, this fantasy explores themes of youthful independence and personal identity. Personally, I have always been a fan of Roald Dahl stories and this is just another one.

The fun comes through the exaggerated situations and roles in the movie. Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman (Matilda’s father and mother) portray the ultimate self-centered, dysfunctional, TV-addicted adult living. They don’t let Matilda go to school because they think she is four. She is really 6 1/2. When stuck for a real answer to her valid arguments, daddy DeVito’s best response is “because I’m big and you’re small. I’m smart and you’re dumb. I’m right and you’re wrong.”

She does get to school eventually, but it’s more of the same. The principal is a big, strong, surly woman who throws boys out of windows and swings a sweet young girl over a fence by her pigtails. It is cartoon-style violence; no one is ever really hurt. In the midst of her troubles, Matilda develops a “miraculous” power.

There are few people who don't sometimes feel unappreciated, misused, and misunderstood. Those are the feelings that Matilda recognizes and confronts. Young Matilda has a hard time with a family who don't seem to understand how special she is. Yet she never lets this get her down for long, always making the best of whatever situation she's in.

Matilda is a good film for all ages to enjoy. The story includes a lot of cartoonish violence, nearly all of it perpetrated by a bullying school principal. Children who displease the evil principal are put in "the chokey," a dark closet lined with nails and broken glass. When Matilda's parents aren't neglecting her, they're berating her ... so she decides to punish them. But she also stands up for the principal's victims.  The violence depicted in the story is very unrealistic and truly exaggerated. Hence, there is no harm in children watching it at all.

It’s a good movie for all the ages.

For more information, click here.

By:
Kay

Instagram: @creativitywithkay

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