Review

The BFG

Steven Spielberg made his fortune and won his fan base with popcorn fare like Jaws and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and plenty of folks have been holding out for him to make movies like those again instead of history lessons like Lincoln or Bridge of Spies. (Though admittedly, Spielberg's common touch keeps even his most grown up movies from sounding like sermons. Most of the time.)

With this adaptation of Roald Dahl's 1982 children's story The BFG, Spielberg demonstrates that his maturing perspective hasn't stifled his ability to have fun. Spielberg and the late screenwriter Melissa Mathison (E.T., The Black Stallion and The Indian in the Cupboard) consistently treat young viewers and the parents who accompany them with respect. Thanks to computer-generated imaging, it probably doesn't take that much effort to have a giant (Mark Rylance, who won an Oscar for his work in Bridge of Spies) strolling through 1980s London.

The BFG

87 Cast: Ruby Barnhill, Mark Rylance (motion capture), Jemaine Clement (motion capture), Rebecca Hall, Rafe Spall, Bill Hader, Penelope Wilton

Director: Steven Spielberg

Rating: PG, for action/peril, some scary moments and brief rude humor

Running time: 117 minutes

That said, it's a lot more fun when Spielberg and company devise ingenious and often amusing ways for a big, friendly giant (hence, BFG) to be seen only by children. The giant can quickly disguise himself as either a tree or a lamppost before drunken revelers staggering though alleys notice an extra utility pole.

By placing an impossible creature in an otherwise real setting, Spielberg and Mathison know how to delight viewers without condescending to them. Having Dahl's witty, heartwarming and occasionally creepy material doesn't hurt, either.

Sophie (the talented young Ruby Barnhill) spots BFG and winds up being abducted by him because she has chronic insomnia. Discovering herself miles from the orphanage where she lives, she's understandably terrified of being in his lair because the vegetables on his shelves are bigger than she is.

Actually, he doesn't want to use her to supplement his diet. He's out to help children like her sleep better and have good dreams. But while BFG is as benevolent as his name implies, he's atypical of giants. For one thing, his peers are bigger than he is and enjoy roaming through England eating children they've stolen in the night. Other giants bully BFG, so he needs the strong-willed Sophie to teach him to stand up to them.

Casting a Shakespearean actor like Rylance seems counterintuitive for a motion capture performance as a giant, but Rylance projects a low key warmth that makes the potentially scary giant seem lovable from the start. Rylance handles Dahl's quirky "giant-speak" with aplomb. Robbing BFG of his unique jargon would have diminished some of the charm of the story. As a child, I thought the green things I had to eat were "vegeterribles."

I'm ambivalent about the motion capture giants because, except for BFG and his chief tormentor Fleshlumpeater (Jemaine Clement), the giants aren't that distinct from one another and sometimes look computer-generated. One wonders what could have been done with Rylance's subtle facial expressions and expert makeup instead of pixels. That said, the crew from Peter Jackson's Weta special effects shop know how to make creatures who have visible emotions and don't look like walking mannequins.

MovieStyle on 07/01/2016

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