Review of The BFG Full Movie: After the popular original movie, the Portokalos family are back, with their crazy Greek morals and unique family values. I personally thought that the original was much better than this sequel, mainly because it was fresh, well written and funny throughout. Anyway, this story see's Toula (Nia Vardalos) and Ian (John Corbett) years in the future, happily married with their teenage girl Paris (Elena Kampouris), who feels like an outsider from the rest of the Portokalos family, because of their strict traditions and the fact that they are always in each others business.
With her grandfather Gus (Michael Constantine) trying to find her a perfect husband and her mom and dad wanting her to go to a college nearby, she finds it hard to find a boyfriend because she feels like an outsider in school. Meanwhile, Gus and his wife, Maria (Lainie Kazan) realize that they haven't been married after being together for years, because there wasn't a signature from the priest, on their martial papers, so they plan to get married with the whole family helping them with the preparations.
During all of this commotion, Toula and Ian try to rekindle the spark, which they feel has been missing for some time but they are constantly interrupted by Toula's family, who always need her help. There is enough material in the storyline to keep the audience interested throughout but I just didn't find it that funny. Gus did make me laugh in a few of the scenes, and Aunt Voula (Andrea Martin) had some crazy morals but apart from that, it wasn't as funny as the first movie. Anyway, it's light humor for the whole family, which I'm sure some people can relate to but I personally found it a bit annoying after a while.
I'll be completely honest. I didn't know what "The BFG" was so when I first heard about its release, I thought it stood for Big Fucking Gun. I wondered, how could this be a kid's movie? There's nothing kid-friendly about that. However, then I found out what this film was really about. It made a little more sense but I was still a little less interested. After watching this as part of a movie marathon (spanning as movie #5), it was definitely the worst of the bunch.
Mark Rylance's portrayal of the giant really was the best part of this film. He made the character his own and he made it memorable. I think he made the character what it was and he's the reason there was a spark of fun in this film. As for Ruby Barnhill, she was fine as an actress, but I didn't really like her character. She came off as a know-it-all personality, which was more annoying than anything.
I guess the worst thing I have to say about this film is that its a film that will really only appeal to young children. There's not much here that will appeal to an audience that is over the age of 13, and that's the biggest disappointment. There are simple and easy giggles placed around this film, with visuals meant for a lower budget film and a ridiculous plot. I mean, seriously, the plot/screenplay was pretty cringe-worthy at times. It was just another aspect of this film that fell short.
Throughout The BFG, I couldn't help thinking that I must be missing something. Everything about it meant it should have been good: it's directed by Steven Spielberg, one of the greatest directors of our time; the screenplay is written by the writer of ET, a beloved classic; the visuals are excellent, brightly coloured and whimsical imagery fills almost every frame and the digital characters are stunningly realised; the protagonist is portrayed by Mark Rylance through motion capture, who's performance in Spielberg's previous attempt Bridge Of Spies was the highlight, in a delightful turn and, last but not least, it is based upon an acclaimed book by brilliant writer Roald Dahl. But despite all this, the film just isn't entertaining - in fact, it often drags and is generally quite boring throughout - and as such I simply wanted it to end.
Even when something seems so big to us, we learn that there's something bigger. Remember your first astronomy class when professor compared Earth to Jupiter, Jupiter to Sun, Sun to Arcturus, and so on? We saw planet to star, star to the galaxy, galaxy to galaxy cluster, cluster to supercluster, etc. There's a clever shot foreshadowing this tall tale, which will change young Sophie's perception forever, where she looks into a dollhouse, fascinated, seeing what her space will look like to the BFG when he soon arrives. And BFG is huge, intimidating, everything you might hope to avoid until you see he's a "Runt" next to some unfriendly foes who live in his world.
That world is beyond the stretch of the imagination, beyond borders of reality, literally, through clouds, into the mystery of what lies beyond there... I could write all day about such devices. Spielberg seems to understand the deepest complexities of fantasy and dreams, a visual style which complements a story about a dreamcatcher, who we eventually learn BFG is. This is the most fantasy he's made since Hook, and I see similarities. The clouds separate reality and fantasy, and there's use of reflection in the water, which in Hook helps Peter find his youth, and in BFG helps Sophie find her dream. There's also a backstory revelation in a home carved within a tree, the production design telling the story, very similar to when Peter remembers his old life in Hook, a dream-bug whizzing by like Tinker Bell and all.
The biggest problem is a third act, rushing, and randomness, Spielberg sentimentality at it's most awkward and desperate since The Terminal. The movie was building up towards an epic conflict with the villainous man-eating giants, and what results is a quick and easy assist by some militia they've recruited from the Queen. Ok, so this movie was never about that, it was about something else? Yes, Sophie finding the love of a parent, being adopted by the Queen's daughter Mary. A dozen problems here - that was never established at the onset, nothing about Sophie in the orphanage set an objective for her to find this. It becomes something implied by various looks between Mary and Sophie later in the film when they've first met, and it really has no buildup or lead-in, it all just happens very quickly and poorly.
Honestly, this whole final act is a complete mess, it's hard to articulate. A table scene with BFG and Queen is delightful, but the whole abruptness of the Queen's role in the first place, followed by the length of this scene going on and on with gags and wonderment over his gigantism, is unsatisfying. Something about the Queen's role should've foreshadowed from the onset. I get it, she's the Queen, she needs no establishing, but I think in a movie anyone does. Especially given how pivotal her role becomes. It all felt terribly off. Nevertheless, that table scene was a lot of fun, from spitting coffee to farting that green upside down bubble drink. And I went bonkers when I heard a "scrumdiddlyumptious" cameo.
Once I saw how quickly the villainous giants were swept off without any real conflict, I knew for certain this movie was emphasizing the "F" in its title, not straying from being family friendly, avoiding intense sequences. What is intense is the photorealism of the giants. It's incredible. I wasn't convinced in trailers and photos, but on an actual movie screen, it blew me away. There's one shot that zooms all the way into the big redhead's eye, and all the details around his lids, crevices and such textures, was as real as a living person. I still don't know why they couldn't use the real Mark Rylance, but there is he is perfectly animated to look just like himself with a little makeup.
I also admire the use of 3D, particularly in the street shots of London. Great use of depth, drew me into the fantasy viscerally and never let me escape it. Moonlight beams coming through the window, classic Kaminski.
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