A name as famous as Steven Spielberg's tends to generate high hopes for any film it's attached to. Whether or not The BFG meets expectations, it's definitely fun, whimsical and impressive. It retells the story of Roald Dahl's famous children's book, where a young girl named Sophie is stolen away by a giant. They turn into the most unlikely of friends and team up to defeat the far less friendly giants who's favourite food is 'human beans'.
The visuals are almost flawless. Both giant country and the land of dreams are vivid and the latter especially helps to create the sense of wonder that a Roald Dahl adaptation should have. My only complaint is that occassionally it all feels just a little bit too crisp and perfect. Which unfortunately does detract from the warm tone that the film tries to convey. Although for the most part it does succeed in this, mostly due to the fantastic leads.Mark Rylance (who was awarded an Oscar for his role in Spielberg's Bridge of Spies) makes for a great BFG. His bumbling, gentle manner is both eccentric and endearing. He has even mastered the giant's odd way of speaking and created a character that is completely unique and sympathetic. His relationship with Sophie (played by the young Ruby Barnhill) is one of the highlights of the film. It just feels incredibly heartfelt and genuine. And Barnhill's performance is also extremely good. Unlike most child characters, Sophie is mature for her age and is really quite a likeable little heroine.
Whilst a run time of just under two hours isn't all that long, The BFG does begin to drag. There is a noticable lack of action in this story that Spielberg attempts to make up for by injecting some comedic moments. These do begin to land later in the film but more often than not end up missing the mark. As a result the films relatively slow pace makes it seem longer than it really is, especially when it feels like not much is happening, something that The BFG struggles with until near the end. This is probably it's greatest weakness as after the first hour has passed it feels like an extensive wait for anything significant to occur.
Mark Rylance is a wonderful BFG, and despite being slow paced and occassionally uneventful, this is a good piece of storytelling by Spielberg.
