Review of The BFG (2016) by Junelkean — 12 Jan 2018

Directed, scored and written by the same trio who made "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial", Steven Spielberg, John Williams and the late Melissa Mathison unites in this adaptation of Roald Dahl's successful children book "The BFG". The movie follows the blossoming friendship between Sophie (Barnhill) and our titular character (Rylance), and their quest to stop the odds against their way. So probably, it’s another E.T., but the main problem is, it’s not.

Dahl himself was not pleased on "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" because he disliked the small changes from the original story, so the script by Mathison remains faithful to the book. That being stated, the first half suffers from pacing issues due to investing most of its time in establishing the bonds between the two lead characters.

It is a visually-striking literary piece with great performances from the two lead actors, however, the action set pieces are nothing to be found engaging and tension-building, unlike the few ones from the "Indiana Jones" movies.

VERDICT: With the delicate touch of Spielberg and the whoopsy-whiffling wonders, The BFG is a visually-stunning spectacle, but lacks to engage its audience emotionally, leaving the core empty.