Young Sophie lives in an orphanage, and suffers from insomnia each night while everyone else is sound asleep. While awake during “the witching hours” she spies a giant lurking around the streets of London, and before she realizes what’s happening she’s whisked away from the orphanage to a faraway land where giants dwell.
That’s the premise of Disney’s latest magical movie The BFG, directed by none other than Steven Spielberg. Based on the beloved children’s author Roald Dahl’s novel by the same name, the story is a timeless tale of a lonely little girl and a “big friendly giant” who both need a friend more than anything else in the world. Sophie, played by Ruby Barnhill, is brave beyond measure while the BFG, voiced by Mark Rylance, is a dream collector who wouldn’t ever dare to eat a small child.
Rylance’s cockney accent is sweet and soothing while his delivery of “wonky” words is humorous without being obnoxious. He’s uneducated and tries his best to speak proper English, but ends up speaking nonsensical words such as trogglehumper, gobblefunk, and whizzpopping. The only made up word that viewers will recognize is scrumdiddlyumptious, which also appears in Roald Dahl’s famous tale Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which was adapted into one of my favorite childhood movies ever, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
Viewers will admire Sophie, who is valiant even when being hunted by nefarious children-eating giants. She encourages BFG to stand up for himself against his fellow giants who bully him, and that in itself is a positive message for kids.
There are definitely some scenes and situations in the movie that might frighten younger viewers such as kidnapping and ravenous giants. I noticed that the child seated in front of us, who appeared to be about 5 years old, got up from her seat to go sit on her mom’s lap during one of the scarier scenes. But along with those moments that were a little hair-raising for younger viewers, there are also scenes that children will find downright hilarious! I brought my 9 year old daughter Addie and her friends Mia and Katie to the movie, and it made my heart so incredibly happy to hear all three girls laughing hysterically during one scene that involved a lot of “tooting” (a.k.a. passing gas).
When I asked the girls what they thought of the film, they all agreed that they liked it! (It wasn’t anyone’s favorite Disney movie of all time, but it was enjoyable for all.) Addie said the movie might have “some shocking parts for little kids”, but adds that “older kids won’t have any nightmares.” Mia said, “It was funny!” She agreed with Addie’s opinion that it might prove to be a little frightening for children under the age of 6. Katie, who has two younger sisters ages 7 and 4, disagreed with Addie and Mia, speculating that both of her sisters would love the movie too. She thinks kids younger than her 4 year old sister should wait to see it though. “I think it should be the most highly recommended movie because it was really adventurous and funny,” Katie said.
I asked Addie what her favorite part was, and she responded, “I liked when the BFG went to people’s houses, and gave them sweet dreams. I hope he comes to our house.” I have to say that I agree that would be lovely indeed. Personally my favorite part, other than the stunning visual effects, was listening to the BFG’s words of wisdom (even if they weren’t grammatically correct).
“The matter with human beans,” the BFG went on, “is that they is absolutely refusing to believe in anything unless they is actually seeing it right in front of their own schnozzles.”
― Roald Dahl, The BFG
Perhaps after seeing it, you too will believe in a little more magic! Enjoy!
Genre: Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Director: Steven Spielberg
Actors: Mark Rylance and Ruby Barnhill
Rating: PG for action/peril, some scary moments and brief rude humor
Running Time: 1 hour 57 minutes
