On Thursday I went to see 'The BFG' at a local cinema, and as I had no Pony Club this weekend (which means a month of no riding - can you feel my pain?) I figured I may as well use the trip as a blog post.
When I was little, I absolutely loved 'The BFG'. I had the book and the DVD (of the 1989 film), the latter of which came with a newspaper that my grandad had bought. It was one of my favourites, so I was a bit apprehensive of seeing a live-action remake. I was aware that throughout the film I was making comparisons from the film I remember fondly to the new, big screen production. I'm just going to go ahead and say it right now that I prefer the old version. It may be a case of I saw the original first (similar to the Monster Inc films - whichever one you watched first is probably going to be your favourite of the two), but there were multiple things that I missed and/or felt critical of in the Spielberg version.
I'll be honest with you, I didn't particularly like Sophie. She came across as too arrogant for my tastes. Yes, it's great that she's strong willed, but the whole scene at the beginning when she's talking to the drunkards just felt very unrealistic. And the orphanage as well; she got away with wondering around in the early hours of morning with no repercussions, which begs the question of what punishments are for if she can collect post at 3am. Furthermore, she never seemed to really show much emotion. Part of this is probably directing, but I am much more accustomed to the girl who is scared but overcomes that, rather than the girl who seems a little arrogant. I don't know, maybe I'm being too picky? Regardless, not liking her definitely made the film a little harder to watch because there didn't seem to be a genuine friendship between Sophie and BFG for much of the film. Whilst her reactions at the Palace were quite funny, it also came across as her being ashamed of him so I didn't really like that too much because they are meant to befriend each other, and care for each other equally.
The CGI and special effects were fantastic though, so that made up for the character disappointment that was Sophie. I loved how the dreams were portrayed, even if I was expecting the cloud-like realm from the original. The reflection of the tree was pretty cool though, and definitely fulfilled the dream-like quality needed. The giants were created brilliantly. Mark Rylance, who played the BFG, was recently on the One Show, and he gave a brief overview of how it all worked in terms of there being a computer version and actual version of the set. All I can say is that the behind-the-camera teams deserve a massive round of applause for some truly stunning work. The make-up teams were fantastic as well. Additionally, credit must go to the script writers for getting the BFG's language so spot on. It's such a fun play on words, and I'm really glad they did it so well (even if it took Sophie way too long to appreciate the BFG's way of speaking).
The element of humour added to the film were very welcome as well. For example, the cat sitting on the bed covers as Sophie walked was amusing in the simplest of ways, and the corgies towards the end were brilliant. It made up for the lack of the creature in the 1989 adaptation - which I cannot remember the name of - who loved Snozzcumber. Much of the breakfast scene was also very good, particularly the giant deciding to spit out the coffee onto three of the people who were serving his breakfast. The comedy was light-hearted to say the least, but it was welcome, especially after the somewhat intense scene involving the other giants invading the BFG's cave. It was also quite fun to have the giants hate the water so much, which made the sudden onset of rain so great earlier on in the film.
Another thing I didn't really like was that there had been previous humans that the BFG had taken. It kind of felt like it undermined his guilt at taking Sophie in some ways. Part of his guilt is that he took her, but it makes it a bit darker to assume that his guilt is primarily based on the fact that his last ward died via giant. Also, surely the giants would be more suspicious if they suddenly smelt a human in Giant Country? Wouldn't it be a case of "who do we know who brings back humans every once in a while to live with him in his cave?". Apart from showing how old the BFG is courtesy of the Queen Victoria picture, it did very little else. I much prefer the first adaptation which had the BFG use the bedding to make a dress for Sophie, rather than the Spielberg version of the BFG handing her the clothes of dead children. Speaking of, I don't think it ever showed the giants in the human world stealing children. On their way isn't really the same thing as seeing them actually taking someone.
Overall, I would recommend the original adaptation of the BFG rather than the current cinema release, but it does come down to a matter of taste and how close you would like the film to be to the book. The currently-in-cinemas film is good, I won't deny that. For an audience who has no prior experience of Giant Country and all that jazz, it is very appealing. In terms of my own, personal preference however, I wouldn't really give it more than 3.5/5 stars. Sorry to those of you who love it, but there were too many flaws for me!
Until next time...
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