The BFG: Movie Review

For the first time since E.T., director Steven Spielberg and screenwriter Melissa Mathison team up to create a movie (25 years in the making) they hope will become a classic.

Based on the beloved children's story by Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, etc.), The BFG will likely entertain some of the kiddos and fans of the book. However, it's not classic material.

Set in 1980s London, The BFG follows the adventures of a little girl who is kidnapped by a big friendly giant. Taken into giant land, the two unlikely friends carve out a wonderful new life together until the other man-eating giants discover her existence and plot to hunt her down.

The BFG has truly beautiful moments, but it's not magical. It turns out to be a sweet bedtime story of a movie that isn't fully realized.

The elements are there, but the comedy is often childish. The pacing is often slow. The adventure is often tensionless. As a result, The BFG doesn't mesmerize like Walt Disney's other recent family favorite – The Jungle Book.

Rated PG for action/peril, some scary moments and brief rude humor, The BFG is not suitable for younger kids. It contains quite a bit of potty humor. The beginning of the film also includes a scene where some drunken Londoners ambling about the city streets.

Unfortunately, The BFG, Mathison's final produced screenplay before her passing in 2015, isn't the giant success Walt Disney surely wanted – at least in my book.