FILM OF THE WEEK: The BFG (PG) *****

The final collaboration of Steven Spielberg and Melissa Mathison, director and screenwriter of E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, is a gloriumptious rendering of Roald Dahl's fantasy, peppered with the author's gobblefunk lexicon of jumbly words.
Photo/Entertainment One.Photo/Entertainment One.
Photo/Entertainment One.

Roald Dahl’s fantasy, peppered with the author’s gobblefunk lexicon of jumbly words.

Sweetness and childish wonder glister in every frame, including a towering motion capture performance from Mark Rylance as the eponymous hulk, who blows bottled dreams into bedrooms using his phizz-whizzing metal trumpet.

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On-screen rapport between the Oscar-winning actor and young co-star Ruby Barnhill galvanizes the picture, building to a rousing crescendo at Buckingham Palace, where a swig of frobscottle, the BFG’s effervescent green brew, induces rip-roaring bouts of whizzpopping that prove you can’t beat a well-delivered fart gag.

The heroine is a precocious orphan called Sophie (Barnhill), who is snatched from her bed at the witching hour by a hooded 24-feet tall figure.

The behemoth spirits the girl over verdant valleys and crashing seas to the rolling landscapes of Giant Country.

‘No such place!’ Sophie defiantly informs her host, who introduces himself as the Big Friendly Giant (Rylance).

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The BFG wouldn’t normally kidnap a chiddler, but he explains that he was fearful Sophie might cause a great rumpledumpus by yodelling the news that she had seen a giant.

A tender and deeply touching friendship is forged between Sophie and her kind-hearted abductor, who is bullied by filthsome fellow giants including Fleshlumpeater (Jemaine Clement), Bloodbottler (Bill Hader), Maidmasher (Olafur Darri Olafsson) and Manhugger (Adam Godley).

In order to rid Giant Country of these man-gobblers, Sophie hatches a hare-brained scheme to visit The Queen (Penelope Wilton) at Buckingham Palace.

The BFG joins her on this madcap quest, and his presence smacks the gobs of the assembled staff.

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Directed with verve by Spielberg, The BFG is a visually arresting ride that gently tugs heartstrings in between rollicking set pieces.

The child-napping unfolds from Sophie’s perspective, cocooned within her blanket, and a visit to the tree of dreams dazzles the senses, especially in 3D.

Rylance’s digitally conjured character has a twinkle of believability in his eyes, and Cheshire-born Barnhill is a suitably spunky and spirited heroine in the midst of the eye-popping mayhem.

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