Despite the esteem of Roald Dahl, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory appears to be the only highly popular adaptation of his literature. All the others to my knowledge have IMDb ratings in the sixes. The BFG sadly has the lowest of all at present, and while its Rotten Tomatoes and Google user scores are better, they still lag behind other Dahl flicks. But as a rare combination of Disney and Steven Spielberg, it looked fit to appeal to me.
For a man three stories tall, the Big Friendly Giant (Mark Rylance in motion capture) does a remarkable job of not being seen as he walks the streets of London at night, distributing harvested sweet dreams -- but preteen Sophie (Ruby Barnhill), who never was one for conventions like sleeping at 3 a.m., makes eye contact. To avoid an imminent giant hunt, he whisks Sophie to his home in Giant Land and declines her pleas to return. (Good thing she hated the orphanage anyway.) Yeah, the "friendly" part has its limits, but he's still far kinder than the other nine giants we know of, who give the lie to the "big" part of his moniker. His growing friendship with Sophie strengthens his urge to stop their human hunts, even if it means enabling a giant hunt.
Since I don't think I ever caught the whole story read aloud, I had to check a synopsis of the book. The movie is apparently very faithful, and the few discrepancies are forgivable or even an improvement. But for all the talk of eating children, it's still pretty darn kiddie, which probably comes across better on paper than on the big screen. The premises don't make much sense for our world, the giants show gigantic ignorance (particularly in their quirky grammar and malapropisms), and the adult humans almost come across as a child's idea of them.
The visual dynamic reminded me often of The Borrowers, what with Sophie getting jostled around in a world too big for her comfort. In a way, it's a reversal: While the Borrowers use tiny human-made objects like they're big, the giants use larger human-made objects like they're small. For example, the BFG uses a galleon for a bed. There are some cute details to be found.
Unfortunately, I wouldn't say that the graphics are state of the art. The giants have skilled (if deliberately ugly) designs, but movement other than precise motion capture isn't always convincing. When the BFG performs running leaps, never mind the distance; he's so slow and quiet that you'd think he was on the moon. And while Barnhill does a decent acting job for her age, she sometimes doesn't move quite the way I'd expect.
The pacing presents another concern. The plot proceeds so quickly in the beginning that I thought, "How will they keep this up for nearly two hours? The original isn't that complex, is it?" Well, it kind of is. But some scenes do let up on the speed. One unimportant piece of the third act rather drags, relying on the audience to crave the humor therein. Including major fart gags.
My dad had gained a little interest in seeing this movie after a brief making-of glimpse, but I think I was right to watch without him. As much as I dig and defend Spielberg, I agree that this is one of his weakest. Eh, maybe it's nearly impossible to do right by the source material, short of full-fledged cartoony animation. But I never did think Spielberg was at his best directing family entertainment.
If you have children Sophie's age or younger, then by all means, rent The BFG for them. If you're a nostalgic Dahl fan eager for an alternative to (or an excuse for) rereading, you might find it worth a look. To the rest of you, I can't recommend the investment.
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