Post by Doomsday on Jun 18, 2016 18:20:14 GMT -5
The BFG
The BFG is what happens when you push the envelope of motion capture, visual effects and overall eye candy while relegating other things as lower priority. Unfortunately in the case of The BFG those 'other things' are necessary elements such as character development, chemistry and a grounded script. While Spielberg again takes great interest and care in raising the bar with motion capture like he did with The Adventure of Tintin he doesn't quite manage to make a movie that will be a companion to the beloved children's book. In fact in some ways it misses the mark completely.
Based on the popular Roald Dahl book, The BFG tells the story of a girl named Sophie who is kidnapped by and later befriends a giant who takes her to Giant Country. While there he introduces her to frobscottle, the drink of choice for giants that make them fart and whips up a dish of snozzcumbers, a disgusting vegetable he is forced to eat. He only eats them because unlike the other giants in Giant Country he refuses to eat little children. BFG also shows her his dream tree where he captures dreams to give to people. This gives Sophie the idea of using these dreams to give to the Queen of England so she will be convinced to help rid the world of the pesky man-eating giants once and for all.
The BFG was written by the late Melissa Mathison, ex-wife of Harrison Ford and writer of E.T. In fact The BFG was marketed as this generation's E.T. in that it tells the story of a child befriending a 'creature' and having both lives intersect. There is however an enormous difference in execution. In E.T., Elliot is established as a troubled boy whose father ran out of the family. Elliot doesn't meet E.T. until about 15 or 20 minutes into the movie and the next 45 to 60 minutes are almost solely dedicated to watching the relationship between the two grow to the point where they are physiologically joined. When Elliot says goodbye to E.T. you feel like you're saying goodbye to him too. You have just as much invested in E.T. as Elliot does. The BFG goes completely in the other direction. It moves so fast getting Sophie and BFG together that the movie literally forgets to tell you Sophie's name until about an hour into the movie. No joke, she doesn't tell BFG her name until halfway through and it's the first time you find out (assuming you didn't read the book). There is so, so much going on in The BFG that there is no time to explore these characters or craft a relationship between them. They just go. There are no E.T. scenes of Sophie introducing BFG to new things with the exception of an overlong scene of The BFG at Buckingham Palace (you read that correctly) nor are there any tug-at-your-heartstrings moments. There can't be because there's no chemistry and there's no time. The whole movie is just a sequence of events that aren't really connected by any emotion or inspiration. At no point is a character scared, angry or anxious. They're just...there, reading their lines. The bad giants, so neat and fun to watch, are criminally underused and relegated to just three scenes. It's a shame that something that could have a great installment in fantasy films and produced by some of the best in the business seems so thrown together.
All in all, this seems to be only a modest effort from the Spielberg house. While boasting cutting edge visual effects and the latest motion capture technology it lacks all the magic of what made other Spielberg films like E.T. or even Hook so memorable. Even John Williams' score is ho-hum and forgettable, at many times making you feel 'this is the music you chose for this scene?' although he'll probably get his mandatory Oscar nomination. If you read this before seeing the movie keep your ear out for the music when Sophie is first taken from her orphanage and notice how out of place it sounds. The BFG is like an enormous brick house built by master craftsmen, the only problem is that the craftsmen forgot to use any mortar.
C+ so says Doomsday
The BFG is what happens when you push the envelope of motion capture, visual effects and overall eye candy while relegating other things as lower priority. Unfortunately in the case of The BFG those 'other things' are necessary elements such as character development, chemistry and a grounded script. While Spielberg again takes great interest and care in raising the bar with motion capture like he did with The Adventure of Tintin he doesn't quite manage to make a movie that will be a companion to the beloved children's book. In fact in some ways it misses the mark completely.
Based on the popular Roald Dahl book, The BFG tells the story of a girl named Sophie who is kidnapped by and later befriends a giant who takes her to Giant Country. While there he introduces her to frobscottle, the drink of choice for giants that make them fart and whips up a dish of snozzcumbers, a disgusting vegetable he is forced to eat. He only eats them because unlike the other giants in Giant Country he refuses to eat little children. BFG also shows her his dream tree where he captures dreams to give to people. This gives Sophie the idea of using these dreams to give to the Queen of England so she will be convinced to help rid the world of the pesky man-eating giants once and for all.
The BFG was written by the late Melissa Mathison, ex-wife of Harrison Ford and writer of E.T. In fact The BFG was marketed as this generation's E.T. in that it tells the story of a child befriending a 'creature' and having both lives intersect. There is however an enormous difference in execution. In E.T., Elliot is established as a troubled boy whose father ran out of the family. Elliot doesn't meet E.T. until about 15 or 20 minutes into the movie and the next 45 to 60 minutes are almost solely dedicated to watching the relationship between the two grow to the point where they are physiologically joined. When Elliot says goodbye to E.T. you feel like you're saying goodbye to him too. You have just as much invested in E.T. as Elliot does. The BFG goes completely in the other direction. It moves so fast getting Sophie and BFG together that the movie literally forgets to tell you Sophie's name until about an hour into the movie. No joke, she doesn't tell BFG her name until halfway through and it's the first time you find out (assuming you didn't read the book). There is so, so much going on in The BFG that there is no time to explore these characters or craft a relationship between them. They just go. There are no E.T. scenes of Sophie introducing BFG to new things with the exception of an overlong scene of The BFG at Buckingham Palace (you read that correctly) nor are there any tug-at-your-heartstrings moments. There can't be because there's no chemistry and there's no time. The whole movie is just a sequence of events that aren't really connected by any emotion or inspiration. At no point is a character scared, angry or anxious. They're just...there, reading their lines. The bad giants, so neat and fun to watch, are criminally underused and relegated to just three scenes. It's a shame that something that could have a great installment in fantasy films and produced by some of the best in the business seems so thrown together.
All in all, this seems to be only a modest effort from the Spielberg house. While boasting cutting edge visual effects and the latest motion capture technology it lacks all the magic of what made other Spielberg films like E.T. or even Hook so memorable. Even John Williams' score is ho-hum and forgettable, at many times making you feel 'this is the music you chose for this scene?' although he'll probably get his mandatory Oscar nomination. If you read this before seeing the movie keep your ear out for the music when Sophie is first taken from her orphanage and notice how out of place it sounds. The BFG is like an enormous brick house built by master craftsmen, the only problem is that the craftsmen forgot to use any mortar.
C+ so says Doomsday
