There isn't really much to say about this movie. When I was really young it scared me. As I got older I liked it more. I thought it was cool. Now I see that its not that good. Its ok for a kids movie, but I wouldn't really recommend it.Plot - The plot is pretty much following the book. Its a but dumb and a bit creative at the same time. Its entertaining I guess. Rating - I don't know why this movie is a PG. There are a lot of things in this movie that probably aren't very child-appropriate. There's a lot of assault and violence. The Chokey is terrifying. There is a scene where some characters break into the principal's house and its ok because she's evil. I know that the title character's parents are portrayed as evil, but overall this movie could send a lot of wrong messages to young children. Its also scary for a young child. I know because I was once a young child. Now, I'm an older child. As is everyone when time passes...Effects - The visual effects are all pretty good. Its very obvious as to how all the effects were achieved, but they're ok. Acting - The acting is terrible all around, especially the child actors. The characters are more like caricatures. Sights and Sounds - The cinematography in this movie is pretty bad. So is the sound design.

Matilda (1996): Dir: Danny De Vito / Cast: Mara Wilson, Danny De Vito, Rhea Perlman, Pam Ferris, Embeth Davidtz: Creative yet misguided family film aimed at the wrong audience. Mara Wilson plays Matilda, a smart little girl with telekinetic powers. Danny De Vito plays her father who sells stolen auto parts, and Rhea Perlman plays her mother who blows all income at bingo. Matilda is interested in school but her parents insist that television is a faster source of information. When she is finally enrolled in school she becomes quickly aware of the principal's abusive tendencies towards students. She locks kids in a closet, and force feeds one boy until he cannot eat anymore. Fine setup becomes predictable with a mishandled conclusion. It plays like a juvenile version of Carrie but director De Vito has fun with the dazzling visual elements. Wilson is charming as Matilda whose willingness for education is admirable but her handling of the principal may warrant discernment. De Vito and Perlman are funny as her deranged parents but their decision regarding Matilda's future in the conclusion is too convenient. Pam Ferris as the ruthless principal is difficult to believe since what parent would send their children to her? She is about as psychotic as the standard slasher film villain. Embeth Davidtz plays the cardboard role of a teacher with whom Matilda connects. Themes support learning and address social isolation. Score: 6 ½ / 10

Matilda Wormwood (Mara Wilson) is a brilliant girl born to neglectful boorish parents Harry (Danny DeVito) and Zinnia (Rhea Perlman). She goes the library by herself in search of books to read. As she grows older, she gets into ever greater struggle against her father as she punishes him. He's under surveillance by the FBI. He sends Matilda to the rundown Crunchem Hall run by the cruel headmistress Agatha Trunchbull. She finds solace in the students and the kind-hearted Miss Jennifer Honey (Embeth Davidtz).This is a movie for little kids who yearn for power over the adults who don't pay attention. I don't want to discount that demographic. It's not necessarily for me. There's really nothing for anybody over 12. The movie needs Miss Honey earlier in the movie. She's the only nice adult in the entire movie.

Matilda is a children's novel by Roald Dahl brought to the big screen by Danny DeVito in one flick that everybody in the 90s knows and loves. I have never read the book, but I did read some pages that say how different the movie is from it. DeVito's directing must've been for the better. Matilda, like Dahl's other works are dark and over-exaggerated humour and content. As a kid, I really felt bad for Matilda and Miss Honey. There are also plot holes and things I would there to have been added. But for what it is, it is good.In Mara Wilson's best-known role, she plays the titular character born into a family of neglectful and mean parents (DeVito and Perlman). She is super smart and learns how to take care of herself by age 2, while her dumb mother goes off to gamble and her father sells phoney and stolen car parts for unfair prices. We get a good look into her family life and feel really bad how horrible she is treated. The older I got, the more I couldn't help laughing. Although a serious subject and lots of sympathy towards Matilda, it is a lot funnier than it is sad. That is the kind of dark humour that Dahl loved to do. She enrols in school where she is subjected to a principal worse than her parents: the evil, former-Olympian Agatha Trunchbull (Ferris). Trunchbull throws kids out the window and long distances for any bit of misbehaviour; she also has a non-deadly iron maiden in her office called the "chokey." It is very unrealistic how none of what she does goes unreported. But, this is part fantasy. I think that Pam Ferris should have won an Oscar for her role as Ms. Trunchbull. While Matilda's parents are cruel, it is down in a very hilarious manner; but Trunchbull is even funnier because she is worse. it is over-the-top at its best. Matilda's teacher is the kind Jennifer Honey, who has parallels to Matilda. She soon learns that she has special powers which she can uses for good and bad. When Matilda learns the secret connections between Miss Honey and Ms. Trunchbull, she devices a plan to destroy Trunchbull once and for all. This takes place over the course of days, some of which can be frightening to younger audiences. I know I was when it came out. Matilda's parents move to Guam by the end to escape the keen FBI and Miss Honey adopts Matilda. I do like the fact that Miss Honey and Matilda end up together, but I wish that she destroyed her parents in a similar manner to what she did to Trunchbull. Matilda's parents have abused her her entire life while Trunchbull was mean just a few weeks. We do see Matilda do funny pranks as acts of revenge, but it's not enough. At least it has a happy and realistic ending. Despite flaws, Matilda is a genuine movie that keeps the laughs and smiles rolling.