Movie Review: ‘The BFG’

Roald Dahl’s dark fairy tale The BFG about a “big friendly giant” and his little human friend couldn’t have been brought to life by a more stellar lineup of talent. Not only did Disney produce the film along with Amblin Entertainment, but the film has director Steven Spielberg behind the lens and long time collaborator John Williams composing the score.

It all comes together quite nicely as The BFG sees Spielberg rediscover that his films can still have magic, wonder and most importantly: fun! The film tells the tale of the energetic and wise-beyond-her-years orphan Sophie (newcomer Ruby Barnhill) as she’s drawn into the world of giants by an accidental nighttime visit from The BFG (Mark Rylance).

As they embark on their adventure together it becomes clear that it’s up to them to stop the evil giants, led by Fleshlumpeater (Jermaine Clement), who have been sneaking into town and eating children.

There’s quite a bit this film does right, but the casting of Barnhill as Sophie is probably the most important. Barnhill is just tremendous as the inquisitive, strong-willed Sophie and is a capable heroine along with being completely adorable, but never crosses the line into the “over-acting precocious youth” found in similar films.

2016 has been a great year for motion-capture CG characters and Mark Rylance’s performance as The BFG is right up there near the top. The gentle giant isn’t quite as breathtaking as the work done in Warcraft, but gone are the dead soulless eyes that were the norm for these types of characters. The BFG himself is a revelation, and every minor movement or subtle glance is beautifully rendered. One of the things I remember most about the character is that he smiles with his eyes – that’s not an attribute of a lifeless CG character.

Rylance’s voice acting also brings multiple layers of vulnerability and empathy to The BFG – and of course the occasional laughs from his unique and humourous way of speaking. Most of the other giants have very little to say, but Jermaine Clement’s Fleshlumpeater is amusingly dim-witted, yet still able to shift to terrifying in an instant.

Which brings about one element that might bring the film down a bit for families – much of The BFG is extremely dark, thematically speaking. Probably not as dark as the source material, but the evil giants are quite intimidating and everyone is quick to point out how much they love to eat people. Even The BFG is presented in a scary way the first time Sophie encounters him.

That being said, the last act of the film goes extremely light on tone – to an almost downright silly degree –  but it’s all great fun. One could complain the tone shift is a problem (along with all of the uncalled-for fart jokes), but at that point the film is having too much fun to really fault it. The visuals are breathtaking, from the nighttime streets of London where The BFG fantastically scampers about and finds cover in the most clever and entertaining ways, to the land of giants where The BFG collects dreams.

From Williams’ beautiful score (as always) to Spielberg’s deft character work and eye for the incredible, The BFG is a rousingly successful adaptation. The BFG might not be suitable for the very youngins, but is a wonderful dark fairy tale for slightly more mature kids that their parents can still enjoy.