The BFG Review

Jun 27

Written By Rendy Jones

Preview

PG: Action/Peril, Some Scary Moments and Brief Rude Humor

Disney, Amblin Entertainment, Walden Media, Reliance Entertainment

1 hr and 57 Minutes

Cast: Mark Rylance, Ruby Barnhill. Penelope Wilton, Rebecca Hall, Rafe Spall, with Jermaine Clements, and Bill Hader

A girl named Sophie encounters the Big Friendly Giant who, despite his intimidating appearance, turns out to be a kindhearted soul who is considered an outcast by the other giants because, unlike them, he refuses to eat children.

REVIEW: It has been a while since Steven Spielberg did a family film. The last one he did was The Adventure of Tintin back in 2011 and I'm still waiting for that sequel. Now the time has come that Spielberg collaborates with Disney to adapt the favorable Roald Dahl book the BFG. And with Roald Dahl film adaptations you know not one has been bad. So you have three amazing factors coming together; Roald Dahl, Spielberg, and Disney. So the film has to be the best movie of the year.

THE GOOD: When it came to casting the BFG it was hard to think of who to cast as the title character. Thankfully Mark Rylance was the perfect choice. The brilliant motion caption on his face brings the illustrations from the book to life which benefits the look of the film. The motion capture on the rest of the giants are great too.

The film also benefits from a strong newcomer Ruby Barnhill. She carries the film alongside Rylance and is a force of nature. Not only does she holds her ground and carries her own, but also is a kid you can root for without getting annoyed at as you usually do with films like this.

THE BAD: Spielberg is considered the master of storytelling in the form of cinema. With the BFG there is barely any setup, because once the adventure begins, it begins with no warning. After the film logos the movie just goes in 3, 2, now. After that, the movie just begins to be very very extremely boring. Don't get me wrong the movie benefits from spectacular visuals and performances from Mark Rylance (right off the high of winning an Oscar for Spielberg's 2015 film Bridge of Spies) and newcomer Ruby Barnhill. But there isn't much things going because the film suffers from lack of intensity. There is a threat, but the story is predictable and lack the darker elements that was in the book. If this film was given to Tim Burton, he wouldn't be afraid to get into the dark themes.

Even that, the humor is bottom of the barrel unfunny that there are moments you ask, "is this Spielberg?" There are fart gags and physical humor that might entertain kids but make adults cringe. Plus the film is unnecessarily long. It is near two hours and you're either that parent who keeps checking his watch or the one that goes to bed by the thirty minute mark.

LAST STATEMENT: Steven Spielberg's The BFG is visually stunningand means well, but is the length of the film makes the story too dull to entertain both kids and adults alike.

Rating: 2/5 | 44%