Review:
"The BFG"
![]() Release Date: July 1, 2016
Rating: PG Running Time: 117 minutes If director Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of the Roald Dahl children’s fantasy novel The BFG feels like the perfect companion piece to his 1982 classic E.T., it’s because both films share a screenwriter in Melissa Mathison. She sadly died of cancer last November but not before leaving behind a script for The BFG that falls right into Spielberg’s wheelhouse. The BFG beats with a heart that’s as enormous as the big friendly giant who finds a kindred spirit in a lonely young orphan girl. Given the unexpected friendship the drives The BFG, one that comes across as warm and genuine, this is as close to an E.T. sequel to come from Spielberg and Mathison. Mark Rylance, the Best Supporting Oscar-winner from Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies, shines in a motion-capture performance as the BFG, a 24-foot-tall vegetarian and collector of dreams. The BFG kidnaps Ruby Barnhill’s Sophie, after she catches a glimpse of him in a dark alley, out of fear the orphan will tell the whole of London that he exists. He whisks off her to Giant Country, and while she initially resists being held hostage, she comes to regard the BFG as the BFF she’s never had. Soon, though, the other giants in the land—in particular Jemaine Clement’s 50-foot-tall, people-eating Fleshlumpeater—discover the BFG is hiding Sophie. And they are hungry. Oh, so, very hungry. If The BFG proves anything, it’s that we have come a long way from the days when computer-generated characters modeled on motion-captured performance actors came across as hyperreal and soulless. Rylance gives as much humanity to the BFG as Spielberg brings to this tale of friendship found and dreams realized. The BFG is the most photorealistic CG creation ever seen on the screen, which is quite an accomplishment given we are just a month removed from Warcraft giving us Toby Kebbell’s orc chieftain Durotan. It’s almost as if Spielberg magically stretched Rylance into a giant blessed with uncannily nimble feet and a knack for hiding in plain sight. There’s an authenticity and carefulness to Rylance’s facial gestures and mannerisms that transcend the melding of human movement and computer interaction. Rylance also is a master of the BFG’s quaint speech pattern and odd jumbling of words, known as Gobblefunk. He utters such words and phrases as “whizzpopping” and “whoopsy-whiffling” with such delightful earnestness that it ensures the BFG is not reduced to a figure of ridicule because of his mangling of the English language. Spielberg’s found in Ruby Barnhill a naturally empathetic actress whose bond with the BFG cannot be questioned. Barnhill gives as good as she gets, and she displays a wisdom beyond her years without coming across as forced or obnoxiously precocious. Through Sophie, Spielberg offers another look at a world that is filled with both magic and darkness through the eyes of an innocent child. This world, though, isn’t the same cruel world that saw government agents attempt to separate Elliott from his best friend E.T. This is a London of the 1980s that, however grounded it may be, still possesses a fairy-tale quality reminiscent of the London of Peter Pan. So there’s not much to be gleamed from The BFG beyond trusting in the powers of dreams and accepting people—and giants—for who they are and not what they seem. Oddly, though, The BFG shares with E.T. the need to engage the military against a threat, real or perceived. This leads to Spielberg inexplicably rushing through a final showdown between the BFG and his nemesis, the Fleshlumpeater, that proves anticlimactic. Otherwise, The BFG is Spielberg’s most enchanting film primarily aimed at children since E.T. Or, to quote the BFG, it’s “gloriumptious.” Robert Sims Aired: June 30, 2016 Web site: http://movies.disney.com/the-bfg |
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