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Review: 'The BFG', a heartwarming tale of friendship, adventure
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Sophie (right), played by Ruby Barnhill, appears in a scene with the Big Friendly Giant, voiced by Mark Rylance, in Disney’s The BFG movie. (Disney via AP/-)
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head of its release, much attention has been given to the live-action adaptation of the The BFG, which marks Steven Spielberg's first project with Disney, as he was director as well as coproducer of the movie.
The BFG has been adapted into a fantasy adventure movie based on the book of the same title by famous children’s author Roald Dahl, which was published in 1982. The story follows a young orphan girl who is kidnapped by a giant she sees walking the streets of London, and is taken to his home in Giant Country. There, she is introduced to his life, as well as how dangerous and hostile giants can be toward human beings. This is a story of friendship, adventure, dreams and standing up for oneself.
(Read also: In 'BFG,' Rylance takes on a new role: Spielberg regular)
Sophie, the young girl, nicknames the giant the BFG, short for the Big Friendly Giant. Upon reaching Giant Country, Sophie wants to get away but the giant does not let her. After all the misunderstandings, they slowly become friends. As Sophie leaps into a world of adventure, the giant also learns to take a leap of faith by opening up to her, as he takes her on a journey filled with danger as well as wonder.
His line of work is catching dreams, and sometimes nightmares, and blowing them into the houses of London to spread them around. Sophie learns about the giant’s ability of listening to “all the secret whispers around the world”, tuning in to dreams, his strange form of grammar, as well as his unusual vocabulary, including the words whizpopping, frobscottle and phizzwizzards. Sophie also learns of how evil the giants are that the BFG is living with, and hatches a plan to stop them, which later turns the issue of the giants into a matter of national security.
This heartwarming movie has comedic scenes toward the end, but begins with tense anticipation surrounding the curious and mysterious plot. It tests the strength of friendship between a human girl and a giant. It also shows maturity in the characters, as not only does Sophie find confidence in herself as a person and becomes part of a family in the end, but the BFG also becomes braver and eventually stands up to the giants to protect Sophie.
Overall, it’s an amazing movie to watch if you enjoy the simplicity of children’s books, when explored in depth on the big screen. (kha/kes)
