The Bfg -2016- Page

★★★½ (3.5/5)

Fans of Roald Dahl’s original text, viewers who appreciate slow-burn fantasy, and anyone looking for a visually stunning bedtime story about kindness and courage. The BFG -2016-

In the dead of night at a London orphanage, a young girl named Sophie (Ruby Barnhill) is snatched from her bed by a mysterious, looming figure. But her captor is no monster. He is the Big Friendly Giant (Mark Rylance), a runt among his kind who spends his nights blowing pleasant dreams into the windows of sleeping children. To keep his secret safe, the BFG brings Sophie to his cavernous home in Giant Country. ★★★½ (3

The BFG is not without its flaws. The pacing is deliberately slow, which may test the patience of younger viewers accustomed to faster storytelling. The middle section, while beautiful, meanders through dream-catching sequences that, though lovely, lack narrative urgency. Furthermore, the final act’s shift to Buckingham Palace—while delightfully silly (featuring a flatulent Queen and dreamy military parades)—feels abrupt, almost as if the film changes genres from gothic fairy tale to royal farce in its final twenty minutes. He is the Big Friendly Giant (Mark Rylance),