I Kill Giants was one of those movies I found on some random “must watch” list so I threw it on my personal list but it kept getting bumped for something else. I knew next to nothing about it, just that it was based on a graphic novel I’d never heard of, Zoe Saldana was in it and the poster looked amazing but I hadn’t seen any reviews which usually means it wasn’t good enough to warrant one.

A few days ago, David was in the other room destroying someone on 7 Wonders Duel and I was working on one of my own board games, so I put it on for background not expecting much. The quality of the filming, as well as the shots of animals caught my attention, but it was the way they handled the giants on what I assume was a fairly low CGI budget (I could not find the budget for this movie anywhere …) that made me sit up and pay attention.

I’m not going to go into any details on plot, as not knowing much about it was such a treat, but I can say that fifteen year old Madison Wolfe who played the lead was phenomenal and I was incredibly impressed with how they dealt with the ancillary characters like the older sister, the friend and the school psychologist, played by Zoe Saldana, and made this crazy fantasy feel real and grounded. Later I discovered that the author of the graphic novel was responsible for the screen play (which is probably why it was so good) and Harry Potter director Chris Columbus directed it. It’ll be a good addition to the Columbus Day playlist.

So, go check it out. I think the DVD is like $3 on Amazon right now, so you really have no excuse. And I will try to track down the graphic novel.