I Kill Giants (2017) User Reviews

A Warning for Discerning Viewers

[seriouscritic-42569 · 6/10 · 26 June 2018]

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.

Stay through the whole movie - it's worth it

[sidseldunkan · 7/10 · 13 December 2021]

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.

More disturbing than whimsical

[freqeteq · 5/10 · 26 March 2018]

If you've watched the trailer then you know that this is a well made movie, it's directed well, got some good acting and the effects are decent, so I'm not going to talk about those things, what I'm going to focus on is the story because that is what let me down with this movie. Spoilers ahead.

So the basic story is a young girl, Barbara, is dealing with a crisis at home and her way to deal with it is to retreat into a make believe fantasy world full of monsters, overcoming obstacles in that fantasy world help her deal with things in the real world.

As I watched this movie I was reminded of A Beautiful Mind with Russel Crowe because the young girl in this movie can't distinguish between reality and fantasy either. The premise of the movie is nothing new, we've had films like Bridge to Teribitha that were similar, but where the children's actions in that movie felt endearing in this movie Barbara's actions are worrying and disturbing, and this is my biggest gripe with the film, Barbara is a 13 or 14 year old girl who, among other things, scratches rune signs on the walls at school to protect people from monsters and carries a weapon in her bag to fight monsters with, and she's just too old to be behaving that way without raising some red flags, of course it's only the audience who gets to see most of this behavior so no one else in the film really gets to see just how deep she is living inside this fantasy she has created for herself. Once I realized that the monsters weren't real I spent the rest of the movie wondering if Barbara was suffering from a serious mental illness, she wasn't, but her behavior would have made more sense if it turned out that she was.

It's a movie that I recommend if your children watch it to sit down with them afterwards and talk about the best way to deal with problems, because the message from this movie, although rather simple, I can see being very confusing for children to understand from the muddled way it is handled and delivered to the audience.

I Kill Giants

[r-ellenh · 18 May 2018]

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.

Interesting

[subxerogravity · 7/10 · 26 March 2018]

Based on the graphic novel. About a girl living in her own head, thinking that she's playing a game in which she saves her town form a problem it has with Giants.

It's a touching story. Almost made me cry...almost. I'll tell you why it did not cry. I did not find the story gripping enough. The connection between a little girl's fantasy world and the real reason why she made it up was drawing at straws. Although that could be the case for all children going through emotional stress, I don't know, but from a cinematic point of view, it was too lose the base on reality.

What's important is that the movie lives up to the curiosity of the poster that I saw that made me go see it. It has heart as they say and is filled with delightful characters as every fantasy film should be

A solid picture worth seeing.

nice YA indie fantasy

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 18 June 2018]

Barbara Thorson is a troubled teen living on the coast of Long Island. Her brother is annoying and her older sister Karen (Imogen Poots) struggles as the new head of the household. She escapes her reality into a fantasy world where she's a giant killer. She's obsessed with an obscure old time baseball player. New girl Sophia from Britain tries to befriend this strange loner. At school, she's bullied by big girl Taylor and school psychiatrist Mrs. Mollé (Zoe Saldana) is concerned.

I generally like this character and this overall story. I like the battle with the bully. There are a few drawbacks which keep me from fully embracing it. Nevertheless, this is a good solid indie fantasy and much better YA than many of its bigger brethren. It has nice ambition even if it's not executed perfectly. I would make Sophia a bigger role. She should be the second character. I know Saldana is the big star but Sophia is naturally the bigger role. They should have more time together. Their closer connection would make her betrayal more powerful. As for the giants, they should be represented in the real world somehow. Barbara should be tilting at windmills in actuality and that would be more compelling. Her battle with the giants should have real world consequences. Her victories should mean victories in the physical world. There is a victory of sorts emotionally but that's not enough. It should be connected to her mother's sickness and her victory should stop others from suffering the same fate. This needs to connect so the payoff would multiply exponential. As it stand, it's a nice little movie.

dealings with loss and pain in an older child, with great fantasy.

[paulina-05839 · 7/10 · 30 December 2018]

A movie about an unpopular child's fantasy, dealing with loss and pain in her own life. The movie is as beautiful as the movie "bridge to Therabitha", also a movie about a child's dealing with reality. It's great acted by the children in this movie, a bit slow at the beginning, but later a nice twist. Special effects are not over the top. The actress who played the psychologist and the girl who played the bully did a good job too. All in all, I would advise to watch this movie, a bit heavy for a young child, but good for older children: 12-14 yr. Everything you want to find about kids dealings in daily schoollife in the USA.

If you're looking for a fantasy adventure... keep looking!

[Tyrel64 · 4/10 · 24 March 2018]

I've had great expectations for this movie. Based on the trailer I was hoping it will be one of the big fantasy hits this year, coming from the producers of Harry Potter and and starring the little girl version of Thor.

In the first 2/3 of the movie it does a great job at keeping you on your toes, it is intense in a way. You're just barely not given and not shown enough to be able to decide how much of what Barbara thinks is real and why is she the way she is. However at a point it starts really going downhill, and everything one would expect based on the trailer is derailed. You soon end up with a mediocre psycho-drama and the taste of disappointment in your mouth.

Beatiful story, but if you are expecting action, keep looking

[lukeshulver · 8/10 · 21 May 2018]

I felt the need to write a review as the ones I have seen are incredibly harsh. This movie is a beautiful parable of a young girls struggle in dealing with the realities of her life told through her avoidance and diving into her vivid imagination and courage of spirit. While I havent seen the trailer all I can say is if you are looking for a Pacific Rim poorly scripted CGI sensory onslaught keep looking, but if you are open to a beautiful heart warming story of fantasy and adventure more akin to The Enchanted Story then this movie is bound to put a smile on your face and will become a staple for kids dealing with sickness and loss. Wonderful to see and deserving of much higher ratings if expectations arent in the action adventure arena.

Madison Wolfe is a powerhouse...

[andyfindlay · 7/10 · 3 January 2019]

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.

Not what's advertised

[nirvana_roach · 4/10 · 20 August 2018]

This movie is very falsely advertised and I keep thinking it was on purpose. I went in expecting to see a fantasy film and instead I got a teen drama. You can see any giant there is to see in the trailer. Seriously, EVERY scene with a giant was put in the trailer. Very lame. The acting is decent, the writing is good and it was pretty well shot. If it was advertised as a drama I would think it was really good and creative, but now I feel cheated.

Well I liked it !!

[spmika · 9/10 · 4 June 2018]

I watched the movie cold with no idea what it was about. I thought the story was great and the acting and production was very good. OK the CGI was a bit low budget but I don't think that's what the film was about. When I put two and two together and realized what was really going on the light bulb shone. The young actors should be commended for their performances. For me it was a very satisfying movie and an interesting way of telling a story. Then again I'm just simple folk. Well done to all involved

it's not what you think it is.

[sansoi · 7/10 · 2 April 2018]

When you jumped on the couch and decide to binge watch on a fantasy movie, this is not the one you are aiming for, I admit I was a bit disappointed towards the mid part of the movie when everything start to unfold.

i carried on and towards the end, I thought this movie is helpful in real life--- the message it brought me is a deeper understanding other people's behaviors would explain a lot. humans use behavioral tactics as defense mechanism to fight off or deny what they dislike in reality. this movie may be a little tragic for kids to watch however it may also give them some sort of realization that other kids may not be acting out of the norm due to situations that they are dealing with at home.

It is a sad ending but a little fulfilling if you absorb the message of the whole movie.

Decent acting terrible story

[sidmiller · 2/10 · 26 March 2018]

This movie starts off with an interesting premise but turns into a bunch of nonsense. The whole time you wait and wait for this climax and the storyline refuses to confirm or deny what's actually happening. It's provides very weak explanations throughout while boring you to death with this girls school problems while also barely providing any backstory it's basically nonstop emotions from all characters just bouncing between pissed and sad it's not worth your time

A girly, boring, less plot, less twist, less CGI version of "A Monster Calls"

[rain_x_tiger · 24 March 2018]

My headline says it all. I just don't understand why they seemed to extract a very small scene from "A Monster Calls" then created a painful watch out of it.

A verry nice movie, a fantasy to explain reality

[i_maris · 7/10 · 24 March 2018]

This was an interesting movie. Remind it me of the 2016 "A Monster Calls", as it was at some level the same basic idea behind the plot of this movie.

It is a nice movie and it is very well acted by all main characters. It was a nice blend between a fantasy created by a very intelligent girl who was trying to cope with her mother's illness. It is at some level a "coming of age" movie, the main character evolving to a more mature person who can understand the reality of life and all that comes with it.

Colorful and funny exploration of a child's way of handling reality

[jonasfurbo · 6/10 · 24 March 2018]

If you allow, the movie will emote you. Sweet interpretation of what potential fantasies a child- and adult for that sake, can develop to deal with emotionally hard things to face. I'm a bit sad though, the brother got left out of the picture. His excessive gaming, is clearly to distract himself from reality too, and gonna either corrupt him, or the emotions gonna surface big time later in his life. Wrecking him up until that point. Guess my point is that there's a lot of boys especially, left "out there", behind their screens, which we don't pay much attention to, the emotions of males I mean.

Good watch!, cool CGI, the atmosphere works. It's not action packed though.

At least you can make a relevant trailer

[musabyamak · 6/10 · 14 August 2018]

We came here to watch a FANTASY movie. First one hour is fine, i couldn't understand is it real or girl's dream. Then everything goes to a drama movie. As a drama, its really good, but you should say it, IT WILL BE A DRAMA MOVIE, NOT A FANTASY.

Didn't I already watch this?

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 5 October 2018]

I KILL GIANTS is a film that came across to me like a cheap rip-off of the 2014 film A MONSTER CALLS, albeit with a few twists in the premise. It's another young adult movie in which the protagonist (pleasantly sparky) battles the usual school bullies but hides a secret to boot: she's a monster killer whose role is to travel the globe and take down gigantic creatures of legend. There are some fun stabs at folklore here but overall it's a mildly drab affair, perhaps better in premise than it is in execution. Various stars including Zoe Saldana and Jennifer Ehle make little impact, although the kids are good and the CGI is okay. It all becomes quite trite, predictable, and sentimental towards the climax though.

TACKLING GIANTS

[kirbylee70-599-526179 · 9/10 · 31 May 2018]

One of the great joys of watching movies is to find a movie that you're not quite sure what to expect from and discover it to be a gem. It doesn't happen often. You either read something about it, a friend tells you about it, you just come across it or maybe you see an interesting trailer. It is coming into a film with no expectations and discovering it that makes it amazing. Such was the case for me with I KILL GIANTS.

Barbara (Madison Wolfe) is a young teenage girl with a number of quirks. She makes traps in the woods, creates her own special mixture for bait and walks around with fake rabbit ears on her head. To say she is quirky is an understatement. But there is a method to her madness. As she explains via narration, her goal is to protect the town she lives in and the people she loves from giants.

She lives with her brother and her sister Karen (Imogen Poots) in a beach front home in Long Island. She shows an interest in games like Dungeons and Dragons but has no one to play with. With plenty of wooded areas to roam in and lay her traps she spends most of her days alone. Then one day on the beach she meets Sophia (Sydney Wade). Just moved here from England Sydney has no friends and Barbara takes her into her confidence telling her what she does. She also shares the secret of her handbag tagged Coveleski, her secret weapon.

At school Barbara is socially awkward, as we would expect, and the target of the school girl bully Taylor (Rory Jackson). One run in results in Barbara being sent to the new school counselor Mrs. Molle (Zoe Saldana). We get the impression through the actions of both that something is going on we're not privy to. The end result is Barbara being more confrontational rather than helpful, feeling her time is being wasted with Mrs. Molle.

Taylor tells Sophia that she will let her in on a secret of Barbara's if she will tell her what she knows about her. The end result is Taylor and her friends dismantling the traps Barbara has set up on the beach and then beating her. Sophia takes Barbara home where she wakes frightened in her bed, fearful of something upstairs. Sophia discovers Barbara's secret and runs from the house.

The friends come face to face again after Barbara faces off against one of the attacking giants in an abandoned railway yard. Their friendship hasn't quite gone back to what it once was yet. As a storm approaches Barbara prepares to do battle on the beach where Taylor destroyed her traps. In the meantime Karen and Mrs. Molle search for Barbara, fearful of what may have happened.

Here is the thing about this movie, starting with the trailer. It's based on a graphic novel of the same name which I'd never read. The trailer was filled with special effects moments of Barbara doing battle with actual giant creatures. But as the story unfolds on film you notice two things. The first is that no one else is ever around when Barbara is confronted by the giants or the warning specters she calls harbingers. The second is that you begin to wonder if there are really giants or is there something going on with Barbara we're not aware of just yet. Both are possibilities and the answer isn't revealed until her final battle.

The movie works on so many levels. There is plenty of humor involved her in the form of Barbara and her quirks on display. There is drama in the characters of Karen who's trying to keep her family together and care for them as well as in Mrs. Molle who wants to help Barbara. There is the comradery of the two girls who become friends in the unlikeliest of possibilities. There is action in the form of battles with bad guys both gigantic and personal. And most importantly there is the subject of trying to understand what is behind it all, a mystery of sorts that some will figure out before it is explained but that provides a journey into imagination that makes this story so wonderful.

As I said I went in expecting one thing and came out the other side having watched something that was completely different from those expectations. And it just made the experience that much better. I was enchanted by this film and loved every minute of it. Even knowing the ending I could easily watch it again and gain new items from the film I would have missed the first time around.

After having sat through so many movies that have been praised by critics and hailed with awards I'm always stunned when films like this go unnoticed. Don't let that happen. Find this film and watch it. Be transported to a place where quite possibly giants are there to do battle with. By then end my guess is you'll recognize you may have some giants of your own that need conquering.

Good movie, but know what you're getting into

[liamcrotty · 7/10 · 2 March 2020]

The description of this movie is literally "a girl who harbours a dark secret: at night, in the forest, she slays giants."

Going into it thinking I was watching an Iron Giant type of film, I was surprised to watch a moving teen coming of age drama about dealing with loss. If you're looking for a comparison, think" My Girl" - but not quite as good.

A lower grade copy of "a monster calls"

[ahabtoor · 2/10 · 1 April 2018]

This is clearly showing that it was an effort to copy the movie "a monster calls" which was by far a better movie and it is better to watch it instead.

A great movie but with a wrong marketing campaign

[tmpsvita · 8/10 · 24 March 2018]

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.

Faithful to the graphic novel

[orcusmaximus · 6/10 · 6 November 2021]

The graphic novel is superb. This film follows the novel's script, but is a little let down by the acting which fails to convey the intensity of Barbara's personality.

The cover artwork is the best bit

[theloststudio · 3/10 · 5 April 2018]

I was so let down with this movie. I was expecting some Tank Girl type Manga mash up. I mean that cover is epic and got this review an extra star, but in truth it's a coming of age teen girl drama. Which I'm sure is great for some if you want to delve into the sad teen girl Id. This film isn't the fantasy great the cover would have you believe. I mean it looks like Thor's daughter going on a rampage but couldn't be further from the truth hence my rating.