The BFG: EW review

The “BFG” in The BFG stands for Big Friendly Giant, and as conjured by pixie-dust maestro Steven Spielberg and embodied by Oscar-winning actor Mark Rylance, he’s a stunning creature to behold. Lanky, long-limbed, and five stories tall, this gentle behemoth with jug-ears and a vocabulary of gibberish malapropisms is the main reason to see this sweet kiddie fantasia. It certainly isn’t for the meandering story. Based on one of Roald Dahl’s lesser children’s books, The BFG doesn’t share the twisted, subversive sensibility of the author’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It’s an innocuous bedtime tale about a young girl (played by 12-year-old Ruby Barnhill) who’s swiped from her orphanage by the BFG late one night and whisked off to his homeland, where she discovers a world of strange wonders and learns not to judge a book by its imposing cover. Parents looking for a 21st-century E.T. to share with their kids are bound to be a bit disappointed even as their eyes are dazzled. B–