'THE BFG' REVIEW

Release Date: Friday the 22nd of July (UK Release)

Directed By: Steven Spielberg

Written By: Melissa Mathison, Roald Dahl

Produced By: Kathleen Kennedy, John Madden and Kristie Macosko Krieger

Starring: Mark Rylance, Ruby Barnhill, Penelope Wilton and Jemaine Clement

Distributed By: Amblin Entertainment, Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Meida

 As is the way with Disney in recent years, live action reboots of well loved classics are the ways to go. In this case, instead of a literary classic from centuries ago Disney have opted for a reiteration of child author Roald Dahl’s 1982 novel ‘The BFG’. Orchestrating this giant adaptation and working for the first time with Disney is renowned cinematic legend Steven Spielberg. Does the seemingly dreamlike pairing make for a squiffling success or a Spielbergian slip up?

Beginning in an undefined decade of London in which the Victorian cobblestones and gas lamps adorn the streets, yet fashion magazines are posted through letterboxes in the early hours; our child protagonist Sophie (Barnhill) is swept away after being seen by a twenty four feet giant (Rylance) in the early hours of the morning. Travelling to the distant land of giant country, the two quickly form a friendship and set out to stop the nine much larger and much more menacing inhabitants of giant country. 

Whilst not the first adaptation of Dahl’s heartwarming tale (The 1989  Animated TV Movie starring David Jason stands as one of the strongest cinematic transfers so far), the prospect of finding the actor for the titular character would make or break this picture. Luckily upon hearing the news of renowned Thespian Mark Rylance, fears were very much set aside before being all but vanquished with the release of the first trailer. Having won an Oscar thanks to Spielberg this year for ‘Bridge of Spies’, Rylance sinks his teeth into this role, emulating a kindly West Suffolk accent, brining to life the wondrous grammatical creations from Dahl’s novel. 

It is clear that Rylance’s motion capture performance is the highlight, taken to even greater levels when in conjunction with Barnhill’s Sophie who in a year of seemingly strong standout young female performances (joining ‘The Nice Guys’ Angourie Rice) seems set to go far in the coming years. Having only two actress credits to her name including this one, Barnhill’s performance perfectly captures the outcast yet feisty child who is not only a staple of Dahl’s work but also that of Spielberg himself with this film in particular, relating to his 1982 iconic picture ‘E.T.’ with two isolated outcasts becoming inseparable. Fitting it should also be connected by the same screenwriter Melissa Mathison as well as legendary composer John Williams who’s contributions are easily and welcomely recognised throughout the narrative progression. 

One of the most welcome aspects of this film, lie within its production and art design, in particular the creation of The BFG’s cave, with the playing of scale executed to brilliant success involving a galleon as a bed and a motorway road sign as a serving tray. It’s here where the true imagination of both Dahl and Spielberg who merge together wonderfully making for the highlights of the picture.   The visual wonder continues in an all too brief section focusing on BFG’s plot driving role as a dreamcatcher, in which Avatar esque balls of light stream to and from the frame in a Northern Lights styled night sky. 

Amongst all of its visual delight and protagonist hits however, issues stem from the progression of the well known tale. Whilst there are naturally necessary beats to hit and unmissable scenes to include (those of which are dealt with in an excellent fashion) it’s the joints between which seemingly suffer greatly as a great deal of running time becomes a two hander between young Sophie and her twenty four feet friend, which whilst pleasant enough, fails to contain enough plot driving elements and sorrily becomes a slow paced series of simplistic conversation scenes. 

That said, the seminal moments from the book are wonderfully brought to the big screen including a brilliantly Spielbergian moment in which we see BFG’s dream blowing skills in full form and a truly rib tickling breakfast scene at Buckingham Palace in which the childlike concoction known as Frobscottle is and in doing so, highlights Spielberg’s knack for physical comedy. 

A common feature of Dahl’s literature was his previously mentioned knack for creating rich and vibrant characters. With the exception of  the two leads, this highlights another issue with the retelling as all supporting characters feel somewhat under developed leading to a less enveloping journey. 

One particularly loyal aspect of the 1989 animated film was the representation of the sheer fearsomeness of the nine antagonist giants who stand much taller than our hero with the leader reaching fifty feet high. In both the novel and animated version, the menacing personalities of these villains come through as well as their atrocious act of eating little “chiddlers”. In Spielberg’s take, whilst a demolition derby style game in Giant Country is all very well and good, there is never really a sense of fear created from these monsters with only the leader of the brutish bunch Fleshlumpeater (Jemaine Clement) gaining a full speaking role. This effect also spills onto the human supporting characters somewhat as the likes of Mary the maid (Rebecca Hall), Mr Tibbs (A seemingly accent muddled Rafe Spall) and The Queen (Penelope Wilton) are somewhat all too brief. As the meeting of these characters occurs within the third act of the film, the ending feels something of a rush as the well remembered capturing of the giants is seemingly brushed over within five minutes, further leaving the actual threat of the giants in an even more questionable state. 

As a fan of Brian Cosgrove’s darker 1989 adaptation, I went into Spielberg’s ‘The BFG’ with a certain expectation in receiving visual flair with very much the right BFG at its core. In Rylance that rings true as do the visuals in the first Dahl adaptation to receive the CG treatment. Whilst it may not stand as the best adaptation, (a position I feel is somewhat tied between Wes Anderson’s ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’ and Mel Stuarts classic ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”) it certainly contains the best of both Dahl and Spielberg’s themes of spectacle and social outcasts coming together in a visually stimulating if somewhat steady paced picture. 

"I cannot be right all the time. Quite often I is left instead of right" - BFG