Rating: 
Summary: Mean spirited clumker
Review: This is yet another Hollywood pic that demeans children and their relationships with school and parents. There is a lame attempt to capture some of the funny cynicism in Willy Wonka, but it doesn't work. Its attempts at humor are pathetic. Don't waste your child's time with this.
Rating: 
Summary: A feel good movie
Review: If you are looking for an entertaining and heartwarming story, this is the one for you. It is great through out and the ending might remind you of a scene from Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall". You will find yourself watching this movie every time it comes on.
Rating: 
Summary: Mara Wilson does it again
Review: Mara Wilson has good acting. She did good acting with this movie along with Miracle on 34th Street and Thomas and the Magic Railroad. It should be Rated PG-for nonstop rude humor, some thematic elements and language instead. Mara Wilson and Danny Devito does it again. I don't even think there is going to be a sequal called Matilda 2.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: My precocious seven-year-old's favorite movie. Inspired her to read even more.
Rating:
Summary: a must see
Review: Mara Wilson is by far most the greatest actress in the world. She's only 15, and she's rocking! I've seen Mara in other movies such as 'A Simple Wish'. I've also seen a bit of her acting in 'Balloon Farm'. Oh yes, let's not forget the popular 'Mrs. Doubtfire', where she was first seen. In 'Matilda', Mara plays an extra-smart little girl, who discovers that she has magical powers later on in life. The parents don't take care of her, often refers to Matilda as a 'mistake'. Her father (Danny DeVito) sells used cars for unfair prices, and her mother (Rhea Perlman) goes to play bingo everyday.
It was not until one specific day that Matilda realized she was super-smart. Harry (dad) came home all excited because he sold cars for a good 'deal'. He asks Mikey (brother) to write down numeral digits on a piece of paper and expected him to solve it [without a calculator, nothing.. poor kid!]. He couldn't do it, but Matilda could! She instantly said the answer aloud...THAT'S INCREDIBLE!!!Now it's time for Matilda to go to school. Time for her to get smart [like she's not a genius already, hehe]. Okay, lemme summarize the ppl in her school: Miss Honey is Matilda's teacher, who is truly wonderful [I wish all teachers were like that], Miss Trunchbull is a real [bull], and I think she got what she deserved at the end. Overall, this is a great movie for both adults and kids to watch! I wish there was a Matilda part 2, so we can see what happens where they left off.
Rating:
Summary: Too little, too much
Review: The best that can be said is that it's a faithful albeit Americanized version of Dahl's book. Slapstick violence, dark authoritarian cruelty and familial abuse, petty revenge, high suspense; I can see why Mr. DeVito took this one on, because this movie, like his other films, curses the darkness (even as it endorses it by exhibition) instead of praising the light. As fodder for children under, say 25 years old, it's way out of line, with nothing to redeem it. Even Dahl's message of "salvation" through classic literature is all but lost here. And the telekinetic shtick always was a cop-out. I'd buy the Madeline DVD/VHS instead - it is a REAL girl-positive movie, and stands up well to repeated viewings.
Rating:
Summary: VHS-Matilda
Review: Finally, after looking all over to replace my kids' copy of one of their all time favorites with no luck, I found it, and for a reasonable price. Very happy with my purchase, little slow on the shipping, but well worth the wait. My children were very excited.
Rating:
Summary: Matilda the Super Kid!
Review: I loved this movie it was so cool and I thought Mara Wilson was great as Matilda the sweet but tough little cookie with magical powers, the bullies like the horrible Miss Trunchbull don't stand a chance against the amazing super kid! I recommend Matilda to anyone who likes movies about spunky children with magical powers. This is by far my favorite Mara Wilson movie!
Rating:
Summary: DVD scratched before I got to see the ending
Review: Roald Dahl described a thoroughly detestable school figure in "Boy" and repeated it in "Matilda". I don't know which he created first, but the characters are so like autocratic figures and petty functionaries that one endures when life takes a nasty turn. We are better off for the experience, and we have to learn to laugh through the misery. I could just see bank officials, license examiners, title company agents, claims adjusters and the like mishandling everything as they puffed their puny chests and acted their minor roles to unappreciative audiences. It was just fitting that the DVD was flawed at the height of the dramatic action. Matilda would have known what to do with whomever or whatever caused the flaw.
Rating: 
Summary: Over the Top
Review: An 8-year old friend of mine has been asking me to watch this movie with her for several months, so I finally rented and watched it with her. Based on the description on the back of the video case, I was prepared for the good versus bad scenario, but not for the truly abusive and outright hostile behavior on the part of Matilda's parents and the school principal. The whole thing starts with the newborn Matilda being tossed in the back of the family SUV where she crashes from side to side in her unsecured child seat on the drive home from the hospital while her parents fight. Things go from bad to worse as the parents leave her home alone from the age of 4, tear up her library books, become verbally abusive when she shows her intelligence, and neglect to send her to school until the age of 6. When the parents finally get around to sending Matilida to school, it's to a place ruled by a woman who behaves like a demented drill sergeant, screaming abuse at the top of her lungs, picking kids up and throwing them out windows, and hurling darts at their pictures. To punish children who break her rules, she locks them in closets studded with nails, humiliates them in front of other students and swings them in circles by their pigtails before tossing them over fences. Sound a bit over the top? It gets worse. Equally disturbing is the pretty young school teacher who does nothing to protect her students despite the fact that she is all too familiar with the woman's behavior. Her timidity is explained by the fact that the principal is her aunt who has been physically and psychologically abusing her for years. No one, not even the parents of the other 100 or so children at the school can manage to do anything either. Has no one heard of the police or child protective services? If you were a young child seeing an adult physically hurt and emotionally destroy children, how would you feel when not a single adult steps in to remedy the situation? The solution posed by the movie is to have Matilda develop magical powers. These powers are discovered when she finally becomes so upset by the abuse that her emotions activate them. Here is another disturbing message. Talents and special abilities are unleashed by violence and anger? The only way out of abusive situations is through magic? Finally, I had a hard time with the images of women in this movie. Matilida's mother is portrayed as an airhead, her teacher as a thin, frail waif who can do nothing to protect herself or her students, and the principal (a former Olympic athlete who is very strong and still loves sports)as a child abuser. What are the underlying messages being given here? Women who are strong athletes become obsessed and use their strength to hurt others? Thin, frail and timid women are ineffective until rescued by magic? This all smacks of Cinderella and Snow White to me. Whatever your interpretation of the role models, I would strongly suggest that you think twice before exposing your children to the violence in this film. My 8-year old friend was in tears and didn't seem at all consoled by the sappy magical solution. She wanted to know why nobody helped Matilda when she was little, and why none of the parents of the students stopped the principal. I wanted to know what the point of all the cruelty was. In my opinion this film was way out of line.
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