Disney's The BFG - movie review

I was always going to love The BFG. Roald Dahl has forever been a fixture in my life, and what’s more, I snagged a free ticket – the greatest of many perks in library work! However, I was honestly surprised at how much I loved it, nay, respected it.

Firstly, whatever kind of new-fangled expensive CGI techniques they used, I am on board completely. I generally have a fairly low cringe tolerance for anything even facing in the direction of the uncanny valley, but I am very happy to say they the film was never even close to such territory. The BFG’s enormous mug is actually very realistic, alternating between crinkly and charming and touchingly solemn. At first I was furious to discover that my primary school teacher was NOT cast in this role, but I’ve since eased up. Peter, you would have been marvellous – but Mark Rylance does a wonderful job.

The landscapes are colourful, fantastic, stunning enough to rival your favourite avant-garde/surrealist directors. I cannot stress enough how much I appreciated the use of colour, and the palette is very of the moment in its techni-coloured shades of nebula/galaxy. In true Dahl fashion, there are plenty of silly gags (read: farts) to allow for chuckles across the age spectrum, and also some sage life lessons – i.e., bullies sadly exist (Jemaine Clement is brilliant as the main antagonist, the Fleshlumpeater), families are often neither neat or nuclear, and happiness invariably occurs alongside a dose of sadness. Of course in the end, kindness prevails – but if you’re into having your heartstrings tugged *gently* then it’s pretty much a winner in that respect.

If I had any complaints, I suppose it would be that there was nothing really scary about the film, which, to dedicated Dahl fans, may seem an aberration – especially as (in my opinion anyway) the trailer seemed to promise some chills. And you know, it’s about a little girl being kidnapped by a giant man and taken away to a land where other giants – GIANT giants considering that The BFG is really a runt of a giant – eat little children. But, if you’re willing to suspend your disbelief, giving up on the more sinister side of Dahl’s oeuvre and making way for his sentimental elements, then I believe you will enjoy it. What it lacks in wickedness, it more than makes up for in lovely visuals, charm, silliness and warmth.

The BFG opens in New Zealand cinemas on Thursday 7 July, 2016.

Our thanks to Disney for providing the movie passes to our reviewer.

6 Movies that are Better than the Books they were Based on (IMHO)

Books that are better than the movie are ten cents for twelve (you know, a dime a dozen) but I really had to do some serious pondering to come up with some movies that surpassed their source material. Here’s my list of 6 movies that succeeded in spite of being based on books that were all just like blah blah blah.

American Psycho
It’s kinda hard to read a book with your eyes closed but that is how I got through ‘American Psycho’. The promising beginning soon descends into page after page of murder! madness! misogyny! mutilation! without really going anywhere - at least, nowhere that I wanted to go. The movie has all of that, but one thing the book doesn’t have but really needed: character development.

Once Were Warriors
Am I allowed to say that? The movie just made such a massive impact and was so accessible in a way that a novel could not be. Of course, the movie succeeds in part because of the depth of the source material but…it’s just BOOM! you know?

The Devil Wears Prada
A chick-lit novel about fashion would be easy to slate, but it’s actually not a bad read. It’s entertaining enough: there’s a beginning, a middle and an end. There’s just something that the movie has that the book does not: Meryl Streep. She gives her fashion editor character a depth that the book lacks.

Trainspotting
I owned this book for years before I even got past the first few pages, what with all that Scottish dialect and no speech marks. Just watch the movie, it’s so much easier. And it has a great soundtrack.

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Yawns all round! But the movie has Colin Firth, so it wins by a smidge.

Anne of Green Gables
This is highly controversial of me to say, but mostly because Anne of Green Gables was technically a miniseries, not a movie. Come on! You know I’m right. The book is great, lots of chapters about Anne’s various shenanigans in Avonlea, but it’s all a bit old-timey in structure and I want a bit more direction from my novels. Many of the books’ scenes just work better after being tweaked a bit for the movie to really bring out the humour, drama and sadness. Plus, Megan Follows is the Best Anne Shirley Ever and Gilbert Blythe is a stone cold fox. Facts.

Well, I’m done dancing with the devil for now. There’s nothing left to do but invite the outpouring of offence in the comments below. Do you agree or disagree with my 6 choices? What movies do you think are better than the books? Who’s hotter, Colin Firth or Gilbert Blythe? Post your comments below!