MOVIE REVIEW: I Kill Giants (2018)
When I first saw the trailer for the movie I Kill Giants, I honestly thought it was going to be an action/fantasy hybrid. Somehow the sight of a small girl-child wielding a massive gravity hammer against a titanic monster was inspirational and well done CG. I saw the trailer back in 2016~2017, and I hoped it would be better than 2010’s Monsters or 2020’s Love and Monsters. Then I didn’t hear anything about it past that point.
I figured perhaps the story wasn’t as cool as it purported to be, but I knew I wanted to judge for myself. Once I saw it on Tubi, I sat down to watch it. Imagine my surprise when the movie has barely any action in it whatsoever…and it was all metaphor. I’m about to spoil the whole movie right now, so…
<<SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT>>
Twelve-year-old Barbara Thorson (Madison Wolfe, The Conjuring [2013], Malignant [2021]) is withdrawn and anti-social. She has fixated on a few things to keep her stable like counting steps and items in her view, but the stability only lasts so long when confronted with growing up, schoolwork, and bullies. The school psychiatrist Mrs. Molle (Zoe Saldana, Guardians of the Galaxy, Colombiana) has noticed Barbara has been absent and called her sister Karen (Imogen Poots, 28 Weeks Later, Jane Eyre [2011]) at work. It’s undue stress thanks to Barbara’s odd behavior. The behavior she’s exhibiting would normally get someone committed, but Karen is set on keeping the family together — herself, Barbara, and their brother Dave (Art Parkinson, Dracula Untold, “Game of Thrones” [TV-HBO]) — in light of their mother’s undisclosed terminal illness.
The three siblings are handling the situation as best they can, with Karen taking abuse from her employer so they can stay in their house, Dave absorbing himself in video games, and Barbara involving herself in a fantasy world where giants are coming to kill everyone. She has invested her energy into a Mjolnir-like weapon called “Covaleski”, after a Philadelphia Phillies baseball player from 1908 that took down the entire New York Giants lineup with a no-hitter inning. She got the idea from her mom, who may have been a baseball announcer. Unfortunately this fixation has cost Barbara some socialization skills at the most crucial time. All that changes when British new kid Sophia (Sydney Wade, “Wolfblood: the First Pack” [TV-BBC], “Creeped Out” [TV-CBBC]) shows up, wanting so badly to understand. Barbara tries to wall her off and everyone else, but it all comes to a head when we finally learn why Barbara has to kill giants: if she can slay the giants with Covaleski, then her mother will beat the disease and live. In Barbara’s mind the stakes are always high.
It goes without saying the movie was not what I expected, but that doesn’t mean it was bad. If anything, it’s an amazing meditation on grieving and coping from the perspective of a child stepping into womanhood. Having an open mind when watching I Kill Giants is the first step to enjoying it; the other half is patience. As the story unfolds, you’ll want to guess what’s wrong with Barbara: is she sad because her mom died? Is Barbara autistic or crazy, what? The story isn’t as forthcoming as we would like, and that might turn a lot of people off. HEADS UP: you might just cry watching this film.
CHOICE CUTS:
- Barbara’s mother is never named, but she is played by Jennifer Ehle (Contagion [2011], Sunshine [1999], The Adjustment Bureau [2011]).
- Mrs. Molle’s husband is played by Noel Clarke (“Doctor Who” [TV-BBC], Star Trek Into Darkness), as a small role.
- The Harbingers had to be the scariest thing in the movie.
- This movie is based on a comic book by Joe Kelly and J.M. Ken Nimura made in 2005, blending manga-style art and American storytelling.
