If you’re looking for a fun and brilliant movie to watch with your children, BFG it is.
I took my wife tbV (the beautiful Val) out to watch BFG as part of our seventh year anniversary celebrations and we were not disappointed. Steven Spielberg, who has seemed a little quiet of late, is back to his story-telling best, accompanied by an excellent digital effects team that bring Roald Dahl’s much-loved classic very much to life.
THE TEAM
Mark Rylance, fresh off his Best Supporting Actor win (for his role in Bridge of Spies with Tom Hanks), voices the title character, and newcomer Ruby Barnhill is Sophie, the little girl that he steals from the orphanage. They are both superb and give such warmth and demonstrate different perspectives of compassion in their particular roles. The film hangs on the relationship between the two of them and the plan they must hatch to prevent the other more aggressive giants (superbly led by Flight of the Conchord‘s Jemaine Clement) from eating more human “beans”.
With a superb blend between real world and animation it is almost impossible to tell where one ends and the other begins. From the streets of London to the dangerous Giant Country and into the secretive magnificent Dream Country where BFG plies his trade as a dream catcher, you will believe every part of it.
The story takes a bit of a sillier slapstick tone, which feels slightly out of place with the rest of the movie, when BFG meets the queen and has breakfast with her. But this scene is so delightful that the young children behind us were beside themselves when the queen and all her dignitaries started drinking the Frobscottle (knowing that this drink made from Snozzcumber, with bubbles that go down instead of up, is responsible for the biggest farts imagineable). Watching the BFG fed with a pitchfork and spade as cutlery and a watering can to pour his coffee really humanised the character for all of the palace folk.
A VISUAL SPECTACLE
For those of us who have grown up with Dahl’s BFG, the story is pretty much the same but it is the extravagance of visual delight that makes this particular telling of it so compelling.
From moments of fear and trepidation to smiles and belly laughs, this rendition delivers on all accounts. While younger children may be a little scared by some of the more frightening parts, I believe that BFG is an event that most families will really enjoy. Try and catch it on the big screen.