Are we surprised? The tone of summer 2016 seems to be that everything and anything must fail, with the exception of "Finding Dory" and "Captain America: Civil War", "The BFG" is another casualty. I saw the film in May at Cannes and the reaction was middling enough that you knew something like this was going to happen. I'm not a Spielberg hater, I'm actually quite the opposite. I worship the streak that he was on from 1998- with "Saving Private Ryan", "A.I.", "Minority Report", "Catch Me If You Can", "Munich" and "War of the Worlds" that pretty much sealed it for me that this man was an auteur (notice I didn't put "The Terminal" which is the only misfire of this timespan. Even though each film was different in story and setting he still maintained the themes and styles throughout this run of eclectic cinema.
This is my 3/5 review of "The BFG" -
"It’s a moment etched in Cannes history. Steven Spielberg’s "E.T." premiering in 1982 as the closing night film, the famous bike ride to the moon sequence occurring and the entire audience firing up their lighters in the dark. Goosebumps. Any Cinephile wishes they could have been there for that goosebumps-worthy moment. That was then, this is now.
This is my 3/5 review of "The BFG" -
"It’s a moment etched in Cannes history. Steven Spielberg’s "E.T." premiering in 1982 as the closing night film, the famous bike ride to the moon sequence occurring and the entire audience firing up their lighters in the dark. Goosebumps. Any Cinephile wishes they could have been there for that goosebumps-worthy moment. That was then, this is now.
Spielberg’s "The BFG" got its world première here at Cannes just a couple of hours ago. The lineup to get into the 11:45 am screening, at the famous Grand Theatre Lumiere, was the biggest the fest has seen thus far, but not all got in. Those that did get a chance to catch a screening, saw a film that will only come out on July 1st. Adapting Roal Dahl’s famous children’s book, Spielberg seems to be at home in the first few scenes presenting us Ruby Barnhill as orphan Sophie, who gets snatched away by a Big Friendly Giant (Mark Rylance). The set-up is all money encompassing the camera techniques and use of music that the famous director is so well-known for.
Things get a bit rocky once Sophie catches a glimpse of the BFG and, worried she might tattle-tale his existence, he forces her to come with him to his homeland. The ensuing scenes are rocky, as they try to forcefully explain the do’s and don’ts of the BFG’s homeland and his passion for dream-making. That part of the film could have easily been trimmed down in half, but Spielberg is just too in love with the visually colorful world he’s created and doesn’t let go. Things do get a bit better in the mid-way mark as the action picks up with Sophie and the BFG facing mean, hungry giants and then having to go visit-no joke-the Queen of England.
It’s all good-natured fun and if "The BFG" didn’t have Spielberg at the helm, it might have garnered far more enthusiastic words from this critic. It is an adamantly well-done action adventure yarn that boasts top-notch special effects and real heart, but it’s Spielberg and it’s Cannes and expectations are too high. The film is no classic, but it’s also no "Hook", Spielberg has matured and leaned out his errors since the time of his misbegotten 1991 film."
It’s all good-natured fun and if "The BFG" didn’t have Spielberg at the helm, it might have garnered far more enthusiastic words from this critic. It is an adamantly well-done action adventure yarn that boasts top-notch special effects and real heart, but it’s Spielberg and it’s Cannes and expectations are too high. The film is no classic, but it’s also no "Hook", Spielberg has matured and leaned out his errors since the time of his misbegotten 1991 film."