I Kill Giants

When i grew up as a kid, i loved movies that were a mixture of adventure, and old school films. And i am especially thinking about one film, released in 1985. The Goonies, is a film that were a big part of my childhood in the 80´s. The story of a team of children, who go searching for One Eyes Willy´s pirate treasure, turned out to be like an Indiana Jones adventure, from a child perspective. The film had some magical scenes, that made this film one of the childhood classics of the 80´s. I also enjoyed the characters, since you could relate to at least one of them. The Goonies is still today one of those films that keep getting a wider fan base, and i think the reason for that is because the film had something special to offer all ages. There are of course other children films that did affect me back in the 80´s, like The Neverending Story from 1984. Also a film i still enjoy to watch, even if the film is nearly 34 years old. But that is what makes these films so special, even how old they get, they still bring magic to the big screen. In a more recent future, i think the children films that have been most popular, has to be Harry Potter. The films, based on the books by author J.K. Rowling, have been seen by millions of children worldwide, and is still to this day one of the most loved children films made into film adaptations. What made the Harry Potter films enjoyable to watch, was the mixture of magic and serious issues. Of course we also got to laugh sometimes, with some wacky characters and strange objects. After the Harry Potter films ended with many films, and a lot of curious fans of the world of Harry Potter would return, we got a different story released in cinemas 2016 called Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. This film, based on J.K. Rowling´s book of the same name, is a spin off from the world of Harry Potter. I really enjoyed the film, and you could feel that there were some resemblances with the world of Harry Potter. A sequel is coming out soon, so that will be fun. Since i read that director and producer Chris Columbus, would be one of the producer of a film called I Kill Giants, i was curious to see what this film would be. Turns out that this film has some fantasy, and horror influences, telling a story about an odd teenager. I was hooked up by this, and got a chance to see the film on VOD. Is this a film that everyone should see, or is I Kill Giants that had potential but lost it all along the way ?

Barbara Thorson is a young, independent teenager who lives with her brother and supportive older sister Karen Thorson ( Imogen Poots ). Barbara have created her own fantasy world, where she believes that giants will attack her and her hometown, to destroy everything. So she spends her free time, preparing to battle the giants, creating weapons, traps, and figuring out the right locations to be safe. One day, Barbara meets the new student Sophia ( Sydney Wade ) who recently moved from Leeds, England. Their friendship begins to grow. After Barbara is in trouble with a confrontation with a group of bullies at school, Barbara is ordered to see school psychologist Mrs Mollé ( Zoe Saldana ). Mrs Mollé is worried about Barbara, when she hear about her ideas to fight against dangerous giants. Barbara however knows she is right, that only she knows how to stop these giants. Is she really fighting against giants, or is she struggling to handle something else ?

Growing up as a kid, we all had own our way to deal with childhood. And this is one of the details that i think I Kill Giants do really well, telling a story from one teenager´s perspective of this world. How does it feel to be odd ? How do you deal with all the emotions you carry around ? But the film also gives us a view into a child´s imaginary world, and how we face danger and how to handle situations. You could say that I Kill Giants is a pretty unique film in some ways, because i can´t say i can compare this film to anything i have seen in a pretty long time, and that is a very good sign. This is a film that mixes fantasy with horror influences, but manage to do it in a soft way, no to scare off the young audience. I also see a story here of bullying, that becomes very clear throughout the film. I have not read the graphic novel by Ken Niimura, that this film is based on. But as a film adaptation, i have to say that the film succeeds to tell a story of how hard childhood can be. In some ways, I Kill Giants is a film that many of us can relate to, especially if you were a bully victim and know how it was being different. The lead teenage actor Madison Wolfe ( perhaps known mostly from The Conjuring 2 ), does a really good performance as the bully victim Barbara. Her thoughts, and her ideas, of how to handle life, becomes very clear that she have a lot of personal issues that is very hard for her young age to handle. I also like the performance of her best friend Sophia ( played by teenage actor Sydney Wade ). Sophia is clearly worried about her friend, and you can tell they have a special friendship, that is complicated. Nice to see actor Zoe Saldana here, and she also does a good performance as Child Psychologist Mrs. Mollé. Danish director Anders Walter prove with his full feature directorial debut film I Kill Giants, that he knows how to embrace an interesting story, and how to mix different influences together. I have not seen his short films from the past, but i feel that he is a director that have a lot of passion for this film, and you can see that while watching. I don´t see many films that handle teenage subjects nowdays, but i have to say I Kill Giants is one of the best films i have seen in a long time, that are meant to be for a young audience. Trust me, adults will guaranteed recognze themselves in this film, remembering how it was when we grew up. The film is set for a DVD and Blu Ray release soon, so you can see it on VOD for now. I suggest you do, I Kill Giants is one of the highlights of this spring, finally an original film for everyone to enjoy.

Rating: DDDD