The BFG is a book I never read growing up, but had it read to me back in elementary school. The only thing I remember from the book is the bubbly drink, Whizpopping, that the BFG drinks, that makes him fart instead of burp. Steven Spielberg is one of my favorite directors and has directed two of my all time favorite movies, Jaws and Jurassic Park. Combine The BFG with Spielberg and you have a movie that I was slightly excited for and but unfortunately the experience was rather forgettable.
The BFG is about this little orphan girl named Sophie, who one night sees this giant outside her window. The giant grabs Sophie and takes her to Giant Country because he cannot have her telling others about him. Luckily for Sophie, this giant isn't one of those man-eating giants, instead he is a big, friendly giant. The BFG and Sophie decide they must work together and take down the other giants before they eat more people.
The main take away from The BFG is Mark Rylance's performance as the BFG. Mark is truly spectacular in this movie. With the use of performance capture, you feel that he is a real giant. Even though he is a CGI character, you can see and feel the emotion on his face. Whenever he smiles you can't help but smile. Even the slightest movement of the BFG's ears cause you to feel nothing but joy. Also just in the way Mark speaks, you can't help but feel that the BFG is an innocent and gentle soul.
The relationship between Sophie and the BFG is another highlight of the movie. Their relationship is pivotal to the movie, if it fails then the movie fails. Whenever they are on screen together you never want their interaction to end. A lot of the fun for me was when the BFG would incorrectly say a word and then Sophie would try and correct him. What I liked about that was you never really knew what the BFG was trying to say, so having Sophie figure it out brought the laughs.
Even though the special effects were great and the relationship between Sophie and the BFG was fantastic, overall I didn't enjoy the movie. I constantly found myself bored. Outside of the interaction between Sophie and the BFG, nothing really happens in this movie. I never felt a sense of danger for the two main characters. While Sophie was in Giant Country, I never really felt that the other giants were going to get her. There were two scenes where the main man-eating giant, The Fleshlumpeater, is trying to sniff Sophie out, but I never felt that something bad would truly happen to her if he caught her. Also when the BFG was in the human "realm" you never get a sense that bad things would happen to him if he was caught or that he was ever really close to getting caught.
The BFG is a decent family movie, but it wasn't for me. I thought the performance by Mark Rylance was spectacular and enjoy seeing the relationship between the BFG and Sophie, but I was bored throughout the movie. If you have little kids and have already seen Finding Dory then maybe go check this movie out. If you were a fan of the book, check this movie out. For me, my favorite scene was the only one I remember from the book, so if you are a fan you will probably enjoy the movie more than I did. If you have no connection to the book, I would suggest skipping this movie while it's in theaters and maybe just rent it in a few months.
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