Our family was invited to check out The BFG a couple of days before the movie released and we were all pleasantly surprised.
“Dreams are so short,” Sophie commented
“On the outside but not on the inside,” BFG replied.
Scratch that.
For most of my kids, who had been counting down the days to seeing the movie, the film met all expectations. There was only one who said he didn’t like it. He gets anxious pretty easily, and there were some intense parts. However, after the lights came up, he continually listed the scenes he loved.
The BFG is not a movie for young kids. It starts out a bit spooky and is a little slow moving at times. We brought all our kids, ages 6-11, and by far, the 9 and 11 year olds were the ones who loved it the most.
5 Things your kids will love about The BFG
- Whizzpoppers–Let’s just say that they are green and loud and come from the characters’ bottoms. And so hysterical. You enjoy whizzpoppers after you ingest Frobscottle.
- Dream Tree Scene–This scene is probably the most magical scene of the whole movie. Sophie and BFG catch dreams and put them in jars here, but it’s so much more than that. From where BFG stores the dreams to how they get to the Dream Tree, the whole concept takes your breath away.
- BFG’s funny words–Though Sophie first tries to change his vocabulary, she begins to enjoy his language by the middle of the movie. Some of my favorite words include
“Your Majester”–the queen
“Filthsome”- yucky, nasty
“Snozcumber”–disgusting vegetable from giant country
“Crockadowndillies”–crocodiles
“Trogglehumper”–bad dream that you can’t wake from
“Scrumdiddlyumpious”–YUMMY - Sophie–A little girl who embodies creativity, tenacity, bravery and resourcefulness. She is ready to take on the giants and even tries to escape until the BFG and she have a heart to heart. She is the one who comes up with the plan to rescue BFG from the other giants. I personally loved the clash of her pragmatic nature with her childhood.
- Buckingham Palace Scene–by far the funniest scene in the whole movie. I don’t want to give anything away, so I will just say, you don’t want to miss this. Penelope Wilton, who plays Queen Victoria, is the perfect straight man while the audience cringes with Sophie.
2 Things your kids may need to know before seeing The BFG
- As you anticipate the Big Friendly Giant and even when you first see the BFG, it’s kind of scary. It’s a little spooky because it’s in the middle of the night so everything is hidden and dark and creepy. You get past it pretty quickly, but you may want to tell your kids that he’s coming.
- The giants are kind of ugly and very mean. Watching them bully BFG is heart-breaking, but you can assure your kids that because of Sophie’s friendship and love for him, he is okay.
More Family Fun:
- Free and Cheap Summer Movies
- Twin Cities Cheap Flicks: $2 Movies at Riverview Theater + More Discounts
- Summer Bucket List
- Twin Cities Best Ice Cream Shoppes
Thanks to Allied Integrated Marketing for inviting us to the preview and providing tickets for my family to go. All opinions are my own.
Because the movie had Spielberg’s name attached to the project, I think people were expected to be “blown away” by the movie. To me, I actually liked it. Rylance was excellent as The BFG and so was Barnhill as Sophie. The visuals were impressive and the other giants look great (at least they look like more human-like than the cartoon version). All in all, while not as dark as Dahl’s other adaptations, The BFG was entertaining to watch.