I Kill Giants is a quaint dramedy about a ‘weird’ kid with an active imagination who uses fantasies to avoid dealing with her fears. Ultimately the fantasy storyline that interplays with her daily life is metaphoric for the her struggle with a very simple but very difficult familial event (which I won’t spoil). I felt right at home reading it the first time, because it’s a plot device I’m really used to. Not only is it not all that uncommon (Bridge to Terabitihia, A Monster Calls), but metaphor-centered stories tend to jive well with me, personally, and even the story I’ve written had an aspect of the fantasy-to-reality parallel. So even though, it’s not super original, I still enjoyed this particular rendition.
What’s more important to talk about I suppose is the art. The thing I enjoyed most about this reading was all the wonderfully exaggerated expressions and gestures that helped create an atmosphere of personality, angst, aggression, and childish wonder.
When I heard about the film adaptation of I Kill Giants, I reflected on my brief moment with the limited series comic and dug up the snapshots I took of its artwork. I was particularly inspired by the concept section in the back of the book.
I’m not sure when or how I will see the film. Supposedly it’s already out, but not many people have logged views of it. Anyway, if there’s one thing I’m hoping to see from the movie, it’s that they’ve captured the somewhat goofy spirit of it and not aimed for something super heavy, like A Monster Calls was. I hope it would be a comedy that celebrates childhood like the book does.
