By Teri Bayus ~
Director Steven Spielberg once again captures the magic of a Roald Dahl (Willie Wonka and James and the Giant Peach) with a visually stunning and fun film that while has scary themes (the giants eat children) is fun for the whole family. I would explain to the small ones first, that giants don’t like children with 10 toes and it should be fine. For our family it was sandy feet, so after the film we ran down the beach for the assurance of safety.
The film takes no time in introducing us to Sophie and BFG (Big Friendly Giant) played by Mark Rylance in all his motion capture glory. Sophie is whisked away from the orphanage she tolerates to Giant Country where BFG is but the small and abused runt of a litter of giants with names like Bloodbottler (Bill Hader) and Bonecruncher (Daniel Bacon). The largest and meanest of them all is Fleshlumpeater (Jemaine Clement) who is partial to eating children.
After avoiding the keen noses of the nine cannibalistic giants, Sophie follows BFG to a dream country where the lonely giant bottles dreams and shares them with the sleeping children of the world.
The beauty of The BFG and director Steven Spielberg’s entire legacy is his ability to world-build. Spielberg doesn’t just give you the tour, he envelopes you into a fiction you can almost touch. It helps that he lets his actors interact as much as possible with the intricate details and adorning accouterments.
This little actress, Ruby Barnhill as Sophie, is quite a treat, she really plays her age really well, she’s so curious and full of questions. Like kids her age do, she’s idealistic and optimistic. Rylance is perfect in his role, because there’s that sense of child-like wonder also of his expressions that are magnified by CGI. Rylance’s gentleness and charm shine through naturally.
Even without the girl-giant bond, the environment creation makes up for the entertainment. Composer John Williams does it again with his spellbinding sounds of sweet dreams, and production designer Rick Carter (Lincoln, Jurassic Park) recreates the large color of dreams with an upside-down tree shrouded with all the glowing sprites of dreams. Together, they create a spectacular light-show of northern lights, dripping leaves, and sprite chasing that we’ve all felt at some point.
TheBFG is a must see and better in the theater. Take the whole family, just count the toes first.
Teri Bayus is the Host of Taste Buds, shown on Charter Channel 2 & 10, KSBY, CW and on Central Coast Now.TV. Teri’s Culinary Erotic Book, Consumed is available at https://www.amazon.com/Consumed-Teri-Bayus-ebook/dp/B016DW85PA
