I agree with everything you said! I love the Danny DeVito movie. I’ve grown up with it. And then I saw the actual musical, first in London, and then in NYC (in the same year), and it was fantastic - blew my mind. But completely different from the movie I’ve grown up with. I think of the movies as two completely different movies, even though they’re based on the same book/story.

This movie is based on the actual musical. If musicals aren’t your thing, then I get it, but I think it’s what makes Matilda special.