DVD review: The BFG

Reviewed by: Samantha Keogh

Review made possible by: Times Media Films

At 3am, the witching hour, she sees, and is seen by, an elderly giant outside her window who reaches in and takes Sophie with him to Giant Country. There, he explains that Sophie must stay with him for the rest of her life because she saw him and must not be allowed to reveal the existence of giants.

Sophie’s giant, who she calls BFG (Big Friendly Giant), controls people’s dreams and is able to create any dream, be it delightfully funny or terrifyingly dreadful.

When the Fleshlumpeater, the infantile leader of the man-eating giants, enters the older giant’s home and smells Sophie, things take a turn for the worse, and Sophie must introduce BFG to Queen Elizabeth II and seek her help in eliminating the other giants before they eat all the children in England.

Having taken breakfast with Sohpie, with gardening implements supplied as cutlery for the BFG, the Queen dispatches British Army helicopters to ensnare the other giants and transport them to an uninhabited island, where they are left with several crates of snozzcumber seeds as their only source of food.

The film is perfectly cast with newcomer Ruby Barnhill in the lead, playing Sophie to perfection.

She is joined by Sir David Mark Rylance Water, who while relatively unknown to me has a host of movie credits to his name, as the BFG, and Penelope Wilton, who plays Queen Elizabeth II with a delightful combination of grandeur as befitting a monarch and childish wonder.

Like Roald Dahl’s book of the same name, this film is delightfully whimsical and a great movie for family DVD night.

The BFG is a great, must-have addition to anyone’s movie collection, whether you’re a child discovering Dahl for the first time or reliving your childhood and the wonderful hours spent in his company.