I Kill Giants

Watch Movies TV -***DISCLAIMER*** The following review is entirely my opinion. If you comment (which I encourage you to do) be respectful. If you don't agree with my opinion (or other commenters), that's fine. To each their own. These reviews are not meant to be statements of facts or endorsements, I am just sharing my opinions and my perspective when watching the film and is not meant to reflect how these films should be viewed. Finally, the reviews are given on a scale of 0-5. 0, of course, being unwatchable. 1, being terrible. 2, being not great. 3, being okay. 4, being great and 5, being epic! And if you enjoy these reviews feel free to share them and follow the blog or follow me on Twitter (@RevRonster) for links to my reviews and the occasional live-Tweet session of the movie I'm watching! At the very least, I hope the giants deserved it.

I Kill Giants – 4 out of 5

Unlike the title of this film, I don’t kill giants.  Mostly because I’m soft and weak and the odds are tremendous that they would kill me first.  It would probably be horrifically painful too.  Anyway, awkward introduction aside, I recently checked out I Kill Giants…it was surprisingly emotional.

She's thinking about all the giants she could be killing right now.

Barbara Thorson (Madison Wolfe) is a mysterious young girl who has a unique purpose.  She believes that giants are coming for her town and it is up to her to protect everyone and stop them.  This has caused her to be alienated from her classmates, bullied at school, looked at with concern by the school’s psychologist (Zoe Saldana), and worried about by her older sister (Imogen Poots).  One day, Barbara meets and befriends a new girl in school; Sophia (Sydney Wade).  Barbara shows Sophia everything she knows about the soon to be invading giants but it starts to become obvious that there are other troubles in the young girl’s life beyond a belief in giants.

"Maybe the giants you're out to kill is actually the friends you made along the way?"

I Kill Giants is a pretty emotional film that explores a child’s fear and how their imagination can help them cope or, at the very least, figure out a way to compartmentalize their pain—for better or worse.  The film might not be the best example of this formula but it is effective enough that it produced a real, emotional reaction from me.  Add in a cast that is doing a tremendous job at guiding the story and it resulted in a very engaging feature for me.

The question she asks all the kids:  Why is Gamora?

Without giving too much away and trying to avoid the dreaded Spoilers, the movie has a twist ending that reveals something that is easily suspected and that is that not everything Barbara is talking about is 100% on the level.  This element isn’t so much as a surprise but the story does a great job of unfolding what she is really going through at such a terrific pace that when the reveal does occur it was easy to be absorbed into it.  The story is never keeping its cards close to itself nor is it just allowing you to look over its shoulder to see what it is holding.  This balance and the pacing of the development allow you to connect the dots and become increasingly more invested in Barbara’s story.  This is where the film is at its strongest.

"Uh oh.  The McGuffin from Pulp Fiction is going bad..."

Madison Wolfe does a tremendous job at bringing Barbara to life.  Her “mission” of protecting everyone from giants isn’t played in an over-the-top way or in a fashion that would suggest that Barbara is out of her mind but rather in a grounded way that makes you understand that she believes what she is saying.  Her performance makes the character both intriguing and incredibly sympathetic and this only grows as the story progresses. 

The giants are metaphors...except this one.  Here's real AF.

The drawbacks on this film are limited.  The replay value is pretty low for me and I don’t anticipate a need to watch this one again.  It is a great movie but one I would have to be in a very specific mood to every want to see for a potential second time.  That aside, I was very impressed and moved with I Kill Giants.  Visually, the film looks terrific and I was very impressed with the effects used to bring the giants to life.  The cast is incredible and, most importantly, the story is dramatic and moving.  I went into this one with pretty much no expectations (although, I was hoping to see some giants die) and walked away discovering a feature that had a surprising amount of heart to it.