The BFG (2016), PG, ★★★

A girl and her giant.

Roald Dahl has inspired a few filmmakers to capture the same imagination that children and some young adults have read from his words, literary devices and imagery descriptions. With Matilda and Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory made, those are two of the unsung and very good children's films that kids would want to watch repeatedly. I think those two are good movies. Even though The BFG does not reach the same levels of those two films, it is rare to see a children's novel adaptation nowadays because of so many superhero films and heavily relied CGI movies in the market. And, additionally, even though it is not one of Spielberg's best movies, it is a nice step-back as to how a great filmmaker now can observe into another film from a child's standpoint.

A little girl named Sophie (Ruby Barnhill) lives an orphanage in London and is awake in the middle of the night. When it is 3 a.m., she thinks that it is the witching hour but it's more like the "gianting" hour. The girl sees the giant out the window and he, the BFG (Mark Rylance), takes her so she couldn't say that she saw him. The BFG takes her to his world, and afterwards, he reads Sophie a book and she falls asleep, letting the BFG give her a dream.

The BFG purposely gives Sophie a nightmare as she may have a thought of escaping from her world. The BFG tells Sophie a secret as he reveals that he catches dreams. The BFG puts Sophie inside a treehouse as he works on his dreams. Sophie convinces the BFG to take her up on the top of the hill but they have to get pass some other giants in their path. Basically, the other giants bully the BFG as they are older and a bit meaner.

What is out there?

This is one of Spielberg's most visually striking films on his filmography as he captures the magical fantasy and awe that he had developed in his earlier films such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. and Jurassic Park. When I saw some of those visually fantastic scenes, I thought that Spielberg's original direction was back and a bit of his expertise was back. The thing that prevents me from saying it is a very special Spielberg film is its minimalistic plot when the BFG develops dreams and places them into some important characters' psyche. It did not engage me as emotionally and resonant as I thought.

Mark Rylance gives a heartfelt motion-captured performance that makes you sympathize and makes you feel comfortable with his character as he knows what he is doing. He also sets apart from the other mean giants that set up some jokes that did not infuse much humor but it was all right. I also like Ruby Barnhill as the girl as her chemistry with the "Big Friendly Giant" was nice. She had a similar touching performance like Henry Thomas from E.T. but it was not as close. I applaud the casting director for casting Penelope Wilton as the Queen. She almost resembled the Queen which was not bad. The voice acting for the other giants (Bill Hader, Rafe Spall, Rebecca Hall to name a few) were fine.

This movie is a wonderfully imaginative movie that captures some magic but is unevenly paced and tonally confused as some jokes (fart jokes) are a bit forced but a few jokes did hit like the scene in the Queen's palace. However, the chemistry between Sophie and the BFG is the core of the movie and it is why I recommend it along with the visuals. Steven Spielberg is one of the best filmmakers of our time but recently, he has been hitting some minor work and I am hoping for a great blockbuster film sometime soon. Hopefully, Ready Player One, maybe. It's a nice little children's movie.

***