Despite growing up a Roald Dalh fan, I’m not too familiar with “The BFG.” I know of the story, but have a hard time recalling reading it as a child. When I hear the name BFG, my mind immediately goes to the video game “Doom” before it does the classic children’s story. I don’t suspect there’s an alternate version where the Big Friendly Giant yields the Big F’n Gun to rid the world of cannibal giants. I may have enjoyed that version more, though.
Quick research deduces that Roald Dahl adapted his novel from a short story, with that novel being quite short as well, clocking in at a paltry two-hundred and eight pages. At that length, I’m sure the story is wonderful. Maybe that’s too strong a belief, considering I have a hard time recalling it. The fable is littered with rhymes and gibberish one would find in a Dr. Seuss book, though not as clever. In any case, I can see this story working in a condensed environment. It doesn’t work, however, in the two-hour time span granted by the film.
The story is too simple to be dragged out for two hours. It’s not as simple as “The Cat in the Hat,” which needed a gargantuan amount of filler just to reach eighty-five minutes, and it’s certainly not as annoying as that film. It’s rather cute, just very limited. Sophie (Ruby Barnhill, giving off strong Mara Wilson vibes) is abducted by the BFG (Mark Rylance) after she notices him sneaking around London in the middle of the night. How a giant sneaks around an average-sized town requires a suspension of disbelief one must have in order to go with the story. She quickly learns he means her no harm, but can’t risk sending her back home out of fear of her telling the world about him. He may be friendly, but the even bigger giants around him are deadly: they’ve been snatching up humans to devour.
The first issue I had with the film was in how underdeveloped the villainous giants are. Steven Spielberg had two hours at his disposal to make them into threats, yet their presence is hardly felt. Most of the screen time is devoted to the budding friendship of Sophie and the BFG, with the cannibalistic giants only popping in occasionally. Even when it’s revealed that they’re abducting children from the orphanage, we don’t truly believe it. We learn that the BFG had another child he inadvertently had to abduct and that’s the only child we know of that succumbed to the giants. That makes it seem as if the humans are only in danger if they unintentionally encounter the BFG, which seems like a rarity.
Our only sense of peril comes in the form of Sophie and even she doesn’t feel too much at harm. Halfway through the film the BFG returns her to the orphanage, feeling he can trust her to keep their secret. She relents, not wanting to return to her isolation and instead find a way to rid Giant Country of the nasty giants. Every issue in the film is presented as being easy to resolve, resulting in any tension or emotional attachment to be stunted.
I don’t want to come across as too much of a curmudgeon. I desperately wanted to like “The BFG,” and found myself doing so on a few occasions. The kinship between Sophie and the BFG is delightful! Ruby Barnhill is adorable as Sophie, with Spielberg making sure her precociousness never became grating. Mary Rylance is charming as the innocent and lovable giant. The two work off of each other well, and one truly believes the little girl is in the presence of a giant.
We believe the entire world to be real in “The BFG.” The special effects and motion capture brings Giant Country to life. This is a case in which the CGI is fully realized, feeling like the creation it is attempting to manipulate. The scope of the environment is big and wondrous! Normal objects are enlarged in Giant Country, with Sophie scrambling through them being dizzying in a satisfying way. When she returns to our world, we still feel as if we’re in Giant Country, only this time in a model or dollhouse that we humans get to play around in.
These special effects also pose a problem. They get in the way of the story. Every scene drags on for too long and I put the blame for that on the effects. Spielberg rightfully fell in love with the creation, so much so that he doesn’t want to leave it. Every single scene in this film meanders in order for the camera to linger on the vast and colorful landscape. For instance, we learn that the BFG’s job is to capture dreams, which take the form of fairies dancing in the night. This is no doubt a beautiful sight to behold, but Steven holds onto it for far too long. The dreams only exist as a way for our heroes to convince the Queen (Penelope Wilton) to aid them in vanquishing the giants, as well as giving the giants nightmares in which to distract them with. There’s no need for a long sequence showcasing how the BFG goes about capturing the dreams.
Even the meeting with the Queen drags on for far too long. All it establishes is the BFG getting friendly with the Queen and her countrymen. Yet, we have to sit through an endless scenario in which the BFG chows down on our food. It ends with the giant sharing his concoction, a drink that causes large farts. And here I thought “Swiss Army Man” was going to be the only film this weekend with copious amounts of farting.
If the direction were tighter, “The BFG” could’ve been a success. I’d suggest a ninety-minute runtime to make things move smoother, as opposed to the glacial pacing used in order to reach the two hour limit. If Spielberg was so desperate to spend a long time in Giant Country, then at least develop the villains further. The screenplay, credited to Melissa Mathison, gives the giants no personalities. They only have cutesy nicknames, such as Fleshlumpeater (Jemaine Clement), Bloodbottler (Bill Hader), Maidmasher (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson), Manhugger (Adam Godley), Bonecruncher (Daniel Bacon), Childchewer (Jonathan Holmes), Gizzardgulper (Chris Gibbs), Meatdripper (Paul Moniz de Sa), and Butcher Boy (Michel Adamthwaite). I put more effort into listing them than Mathison put into developing them.
Maybe I don’t recall “The BFG” because I found it too cutesy as a child. Maybe I liked it, but not enough to reread it a dozen times like I did Roald Dahl’s other books. What I do know is that Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of the story is a technical wonder, but is sorely lacking in the story department. It may look magical, but it doesn’t feel as magical as it should.
Final Rating: C+