Review of The BFG (2016) by Dan S — 16 May 2017

Even when something seems so big to us, we learn that there's something bigger. Remember your first astronomy class when professor compared Earth to Jupiter, Jupiter to Sun, Sun to Arcturus, and so on? We saw planet to star, star to galaxy, galaxy to galaxy cluster, cluster to supercluster, etc. There's a clever shot foreshadowing this tall tale, which will change young Sophie's perception forever, where she looks into a dollhouse, fascinated, seeing what her space will look like to the BFG when he soon arrives. And BFG is huge, intimidating, everything you might hope to avoid, until you see he's a "Runt" next to some unfriendly foes who live in his world. That world is beyond the stretch of the imagination, beyond borders of reality, literally, through clouds, into the mystery of what lies beyond there... I could write all day about such devices. Spielberg seems to understand the deepest complexities of fantasy and dreams, a visual style which complements a story about a dreamcatcher, who we eventually learn BFG is. This is the most fantasy he's made since Hook, and I see similarities. The clouds separate reality and fantasy, and there's use of reflection in water, which in Hook helps Peter find his youth, and in BFG helps Sophie find her dream. There's also a backstory revelation in a home carved within a tree, the production design telling the story, very similar to when Peter remembers his old life in Hook, a dream-bug whizzing by like Tinker Bell and all.

Biggest problem is third act, rushing and randomness, Spielberg sentimentality at it's most awkward and desperate since The Terminal. The movie was building up towards an epic conflict with the villainous man-eating giants, and what results is a quick and easy assist by some militia they've recruited from the Queen. Ok, so this movie was never about that, it was about something else? Yes, Sophie finding the love of a parent, being adopted by the Queen's daughter Mary. Dozen problems here - that was never established at the onset, nothing about Sophie in the orphanage set an objective for her to find this. It becomes something implied by various looks between Mary and Sophie later in the film, when they've first met, and it really has no buildup or lead-in, it all just happens very quickly and poorly. Honestly this whole final act is a complete mess, it's hard to articulate. A table scene with BFG and Queen is delightful, but the whole abruptness of the Queen's role in the first place, followed by the length of this scene going on and on with gags and wonderment over his gigantism, is unsatisfying. Something about the Queen's role should've foreshadowed from the onset. I get it, she's the Queen, she needs no establishing, but I think in a movie anyone does. Especially given how pivotal her role becomes. It all felt terribly off. Nevertheless, that table scene was a lot of fun, from spitting coffee to farting that green upside down bubble drink. And I went bonkers when I heard a "scrumdidliumptious" cameo.

Once I saw how quickly the villainous giants were swept off without any real conflict, I knew for certain this movie was emphasizing the "F" in it's title, not straying from being family friendly, avoiding intense sequences. What is intense is the photorealism of the giants. It's incredible. I wasn't convinced in trailers and photos, but on an actual movie screen it blew me away. There's one shot that zooms all the way in to the big redhead's eye, and all the details around his lids, crevices and such textures, was as real as a living person. I still don't know why they couldn't use the real Mark Rylance, but there is he is perfectly animated to look just like himself with a little makeup.

I also admire the use of 3D, particularly in the street shots of London. Great use of depth, drew me into the fantasy viscerally and never let me escape it. Moonlight beams coming through the window, classic Kaminski.