Review of Matilda

Matilda (1996)
7/10
Flawed but still pretty good
17 February 2010
Warning: Spoilers
This movie is is pretty enjoyable. I enjoyed watching it in school on days when we had no work. It's certainly not a perfect movie, and it's not a classic, but I like it quite a bit. It just seems to have a feel to it that I wish more movies today had. I'm talking about that good magical feeling older Disney movies had.

Matilda is a movie that certainly has it's share of flaws, but when it's good, it's really good. I talk about the flaws first: The acting is over top at points, a few characters are over the top, and the story has some unrealistic points. The story is about Matilda, a young girl who is neglected by her weird, unlawful, dysfunctional family. She is a very smart girl, however, and can take of herself better than most adults. The one adult she can rely on is her teacher. The actors that play Matilda's parents and principle really overact their evil persona's almost to a laughable point, and the battle between Matilda and her principle is pretty cheesy.

However, like I said, the movie has it's really strong points. I love Matilda's character and the way she bonds with her teacher, miss Honey. These two actresses did very good jobs. The relationship they form is played out really well. Many of Matilda's pranks are pretty funny to watch. The story is also interesting despite being unreal at times. The ending, which I won't spoil, was almost pretty nice. It was probably my favorite part of the movie. The movie had it's dark and scary moments, and also had it's sweet and sugary moments. In the end it made a nice tone and atmosphere for the movie.

In the end I'd call it a pretty good fantasy family flick. It has it's flaws and downsides, but it also has many upsides. If you like family or kid's movies, check this one out.
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