This was a little disappointing. It is very slow paced, which doesn't work as well in a movie as it does on the page. Most people would probably call this film boring. The entire middle part drags on for what feels like forever. The ending with the Queen is very funny and exciting though, and almost make slogging through the rest of it worth it. I think the filmmakers needed to trim about 40 minutes from this movie, rather than add padding about how the giant world is too dangerous for Sophie, and she gets put back. We obviously know that she is going to get taken back to Giant Country. The BFG should stay on the page.

C+

In Thatcher-era London, a restless orphan (Ruby Barnhill) glimpses a monster, a giant (Mark Rylance), stealthily moving through the city at night. To avoid her reporting the sighting, he reaches through her window and spirits her to his home in Giant Country, a hideaway north of the northernmost point on any human map. She discovers he is the sole benevolent giant, teased by his cannibalistic peers for being a vegetarian. He also has a job: capturing dreams (floating tendrils of neon light), blending them into fancies or nightmares, and finding human beings, or "human beans," to experience them whilst they sleep. With The BFG, Steven Spielberg has mounted a vast production of a not-so-giant story, and this results in a certain displeasing friction. The film is gorgeous (the dream collection is a light show worthy of a Roger Waters concert) without being transportive. Its central conflict—our big friendly giant's worldview versus the one shared by his nastier brethren—is spread so thin, one almost forgets there is a conflict at all. The characters and performers are fairly endearing (Barnhill is spirited and wide-eyed without being too distinctive, and a motion-captured Rylance puts forth an amusing, very actorly blend of balderdash and rustic integrity), but never so absorbing and well-developed as to tightly hold our attention during the several pauses and detours. In general, the film is fine, an admirable-in-theory exercise in sentiment and whimsy by an old pro, without capturing one's heart or imagination the way its creators surely intended.

C+

A few more observations:

1. I am sure it is from the novel, which I honestly have not read, but the third act with Queen Elizabeth is very mystifying to me. Total tonal whiplash, from whimsical frolics in Giant Country to British-military helicopters swooping in and phone calls with the Reagans. The film may be more outwardly "funny" during this stretch if the bits connect with you (the farting dogs, the coffee mishap), but it did not feel of a piece to me with what came before. Also, total squandering of Rebecca Hall.

2. Doesn't the BFG end up profoundly alone in the end? Not sure how we are meant to process this.

The ending is the most entertaining part of the film and novel, so I really don't care that is is a big shift. At the end of the novel, the Queen grants the giant and Sophie neighboring estates. I'm not actually remembering if that happened in the film.

The part that was not in the book was the part where the BFG puts her back in the orphanage. Silly unnecessary padding if you ask me. That's what a lot of the film felt like.

He changes his mind so quickly, so the return to the orphanage has no dramatic heft. The idea of her belief in him being so pure she jumps from a high window may also be creepy, but I will not read too much into it.

The BFG

Spielberg yet again crafts a faithful adaptation of a classic story. In a time when every beloved tale has (or will have) its own live-action film, Roald Dahl's The BFG gets it very own much-needed adaption, and it can proudly sit in Spielberg's rich oeuvre. It is true, utterly delightful, escapism. The production designers did a fantastic job of crafting the giant's magical world. The CGI is also sublime; definitely Oscar-worthy. The voice artistry is charming. The giant language and dialogue in general is interesting and child-like. The comedy is endearing though it does border silly on a few occasions. And it also has the lovely Rebecca Hall and the likeable Rafe Spall in small roles. Is it perfect? Far from it. But its whimsical and innocent style is too attractive and captivating to put focus on its shortfalls. Seeing The BFG is what I needed as a final push to get me to watch Spielberg's Tintin.

B+

Wow, besides me, only two people saw this. Yet four graded it.

Meh. There are a few really good scenes (BFG and Sophia in the kitchen, the dinner with the Queen, any effects scene...)but so much extra that drags it down. They should have gone to the Queen right after coming back from the dream hunt. That would cut about twenty minutes off the movie and dramatically improve the pacing.

Also, like most of the Disney live action flicks, it struggles with its own identity. It wants to play on our nostalgia for 80s Spielberg, which stuff like Super 8 and Stranger Things have accomplished. But its trying to sell that to children, instead of selling it using children. The difference is that whenever I started to connect with the movie they hit us with a fart joke or a guy getting hit in the balls joke. Fart jokes can be funny, the set up to the Queen farting was great and would have been much better if they didn't show the fart. Just cut away after the dogs faces drop. That's humor for all ages, but they Jar Jar the scene by seeing it through to the end.

** / ***** (D)

I was bored. And I feel Spielberg was too while making this.

It's cute, but it has no magic. Same creators as ET, but no magic. I think the difference lies in that ET was a real tactile object yet still completely believable as a live being, while giant country or even England for that matter don't even feel remotely real. Too blue/green screeny. Rylance and the girl carry this a long way though.

B-

I liked it in theaters but when I tried to watch it at home, I was bored out of my mind. Didn't even finished it.

It's sweet and well-intentioned, and has gorgeous visuals, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bored with it by the end. There's just no sense of dramatic conflict at all. Ruby Barnhill was lovely though. B-