I Kill Giants

It is not the special effects, although interesting and visually not exceptional but discrete, it is not the extremely suggestive and curated cinematography, as well as original and effective, it is not the directing, intelligent and well studied; in short, it is not the technical sector, however remarkable, that makes this "I Kill Giants" a great movie, but it is something more, something that is more in depth, are the true and sincere feelings that are perceived for a good part of the movie and that make it special despite being almost a genre movie. A movie that proves itself surprisingly mature, even if its appearance says the opposite, and aware of the path and the goals it wants to achieve; this is felt in different scenes that, for this, effect and in different dialogues taken from a screenplay that is not original but that can raise many questions to the viewer during the film, doing so, even if they do not always receive a gratifying answer, this last will be completely immersed in the atmosphere and spirit of the story and can only be involved in it. Also you can very easily get in tune with the protagonist, a young girl who stands out from the many who have already seen in many other films similar to this, thanks to its unique character that makes the character curious and bizarre and, important and rare thing, never predictable, this means that the viewer never loses interest in it. For the rest what to say, there is Zoe Saldana, good as usual, and a really good Imogen Poots, thanks to a role in which she identified herself perfectly. Unfortunately, the film was, nonetheless, anticipated by a marketing campaign that between trailer and poster deceives the public, presenting it as a film that is not, for this reason will be many who, waiting for a pure fantasy, will remain a bit 'disappointed.

I Kill Giants is another one of those films that goes compeletely unacknowledged, probably not aided by a ridiculous and childish title.

Considering the filmmakers fully embraced the fact this would not be a huge hit and consined a small budget remarkable CGI has to be the greatest standout of the movie, even on close up shots on the giants the effects are intricate and extremely well crafted, proving millions of dollars are not nessersary to produce good results.

The tone of the film is also pretty solid however, the story does not fully embrace itself, the whole mystical and mythical elements of the story seriously lack at times subsequently weakening the scenes which do include these elements as they feel inadequately set up and utilised.

Considering this produced by one of the producers/directors of Harry Potter you'd certainly expect more on this front.

What this film does utilise is the brilliant cast. The film is led a remarkable amount by Madison Wolfe. A powerhouse performance on her part. Zoe Saldana can go unnoticed, different to many of her most recent roles, but proves herself a more than capable outside of blockbusters. Maybe she should focus on doing smaller roles like this more than big, flashy sci-fi films, she really is great here.

I Kill Giants (2017) is a movie that I recently watched with my daughter on Tubi. The storyline follows a young lady who dresses and behaves her own way. It leads to her family, classmates and teachers struggling to understand her. Meanwhile, she believes she mixes potions and keeps the world safe from giants in the woods around her hometown. When she makes a new friend, she tries to teach her, her ways. It becomes apparent the young lady does indeed have giants to conquer.

This movie is directed by Anders Walter in his directorial debut and stars Zoe Saldana (Guardians of the Galaxy), Madison Wolfe (The Conjuring 2), Imogen Poots (28 Weeks Later), Sydney Wade (360) and Jennifer Ehle (A Quiet Place).

There's a lot to like about this movie. The characters are very unique, especially the main character. The acting by Wolfe is very good. The special effects to create the monsters are outstanding and very well done. The settings are also well selected, and I enjoyed the cinematography and depiction of the town. The dialogue throughout the movie was very good, surprising at times, but well written. The ending is a bit cliche, predictable but concludes the film well.

Overall, this is an above average addition to the family drama genre. I would score this a 6-6.5/10.

This review is only for the most discerning of viewers and the reason is simple; this is a very well-intentioned film, competently made with some extremely fine performances, and if that's enough to please a person they will likely enjoy this sincere little effort. But it also aspires to deal with deep issues in an inventive fashion and while I'd not say a discerning viewer should NOT see the film, I am saying a little forewarning might help temper your disappointment.

It's the kind of film which, after you settle into it (and if you've conscientiously watched a lot of other movies) you realize it holds no surprises. You can predict the moment a character is introduced (the "bully" or the "new friend" etc) exactly how that's going to play out, almost beat-to-beat. You know the ending before you're anywhere close. There were absolutely no surprises in this film for me because it's very earnestness tipped its hand that it also wasn't going to risk telling me anything surprising or unpleasant. This is a movie that introduces anger into its characters but doesn't really want to deal with pain. That treats a damaged psyche and serious mental illness like something that can be "fixed" with a little sleep and a change of wardrobe. Oh, and hearing the right bit of wisdom at the right time.

This is a sweet little film that doesn't want to face reality or consequences even though that's often where the real depth and truths lie. That doesn't make it a bad film - it is not - it just prevents it from being a great one.

I can understand why there are so many bad reviews for this film. For starters, the screenplay was flawed from the comic book adaptation for leaving too many holes that were needed to help the viewer surmise the premise. Whether those details were edited out to maintain the films length (a huge mistake - the extra information was needed) or the screenplay was actually flawed, those are the major contributors for holding back this film in being great.

Having a background in psychology, I understood what was happening, but I know it wouldn't have been clear enough for the average person. What this film really needed is a little more back story throughout the film as well as some pertinent details that were missed. Some scenes were overly dramatic and could have been toned down and explained better. Somewhere towards the middle of the film, it should have been made clear that this was an example of typical child like Barbara's psychological response to use their imaginations to deal with stress in lieu of logic and experience they find in adulthood. For many young people, getting caught up in a fantasy is the only way they can cope, and eventually confront, a troubling reality - a reality that should also have been made a little clearer in advance, not at the very end. This would have made the film more audience-friendly, instead of leaving them scrambling to their own conclusions of what the premise of this film is. The only other way to have clarity for this film is to have known that the comic books were written for children to help them cope with their mother's dealing and suffering with breast cancer and their eventual loss.

Aside from that, director Anders Walter did an outstanding job in his first full length feature film directorial debut. The cinematography was on point, the VFX outstanding, the score appropriate and the acting was perfect by all cast members. It's too bad the writing was not tighter and more audience friendly, as then this would have been a great film. Nevertheless, a well deserving 8/10 from me.