I Kill Giants

At first I was like "what the f... is this". It was weird and crazy and then holy moly! Crying! Completely saved the entire movie. A Monster Calls will forever be the best dealing-with-grief movie but this one is a damn fine one too.

A very touching movie that reveals itself in the end

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.

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 read several reviews before I started watching the movie and all those reviews totally slammed the movie. Don't listen to those reviews. This movie is every bit as good as A Monster Calls and Phoebe In Wonderland. In each movie the child is faced with life and death struggles, fear and denial. Watch this movie and keep at least one kleenex in your pocket. My family is dealing with the same thing. And none of us is handling it well.