The talents of three of the world’s greatest storytellers – Roald Dahl, Walt Disney and Steven Spielberg – finally unite to bring Dahl’s beloved classic “The BFG” to life. Directed by Spielberg, Disney’s “The BFG” tells the imaginative story of a young girl and the Giant who introduces her to the wonders and perils of Giant Country. The BFG (Mark Rylance), while a giant himself, is a Big Friendly Giant and nothing like the other inhabitants of Giant Country. Standing 24-feet tall with enormous ears and a keen sense of smell, he is endearingly dim-witted and keeps to himself for the most part. Giants like Bloodbottler (Bill Hader) and Fleshlumpeater (Jemaine Clement) on the other hand, are twice as big and at least twice as scary and have been known to eat humans, while the BFG prefers Snozzcumber and Frobscottle. Upon her arrival in Giant Country, Sophie, a precocious 10-year-old girl from London, is initially frightened of the mysterious giant who has brought her to his cave, but soon comes to realize that the BFG is actually quite gentle and charming, and, having never met a giant before, has many questions. The BFG brings Sophie to Dream Country where he collects dreams and sends them to children, teaching her all about the magic and mystery of dreams. Having both been on their own in the world up until now, their affection for one another quickly grows, but Sophie’s presence in Giant Country has attracted the unwanted attention of the other giants, who have become increasingly more bothersome. Sophie and the BFG soon depart for London to see Queen Victoria (Penelope Wilton) and warn her of the precarious giant situation, but they must first convince the Queen and her maid, Mary (Rebecca Hall), that giants do indeed exist. Together, they come up with a plan to get rid of the giants once and for all.
Hawaii Dad Blog's review:
As in many of Roald Dahl's other books, The BFG features a child who, with the help of a kind adult (or giant in this case), must overcome the cruelties of others.
The child in The BFG is Sophie, an orphan who one night spots a giant outside the orphanage window. The giant grabs her and takes her back to Giant Country. Once there he explains that he took her because he feared that she would tell other humans about his existence. He also tells her that there are other giants that eat humans. Being the Big Friendly Giant, he instead survives on the foul tasting vegetable called "snozzcumber".
Dahl's children's titles have always displayed a playful use of language and The BFG is no exception. Aside from the "snozzcumber," we learn about a drink called "frobscottle" and its trademark downward bubbles that could cause a case of "whizzpopping" complete with a cloud of green gas. As expected, the "whizzpopping" scenes scored a lot of laughs with the young ones in attendance, and this was my son's favorite part of the movie.
The BFG takes Sophie with him on his missions to collect and deliver dreams. He also must protect her from the other people-eating giants who are much bigger than him and torment him at very opportunity. Sophie tries to convince him to stand up to the bullies, but he's haunted by the memory of a friend he lost at the hands of the bad giants. Ultimately, the two join forces, and even get some help from the Queen of England, to carry out their plan to conquer the evil giants.
The BFG, which is the first Disney film directed by Steven Spielberg, is a smart and beautiful movie with fantastic effects, but it also contains abstract ideas and themes that may go over some children's (and adults') heads.
The BFG is definitely worth watching, especially for little ones who appreciate a wonderful story, and for adults who have of a fondess of the Roald Dahl books that captivated them when they were children.
Thank you to the sponsor for providing complimentary screening tickets.
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