Metaphorical teen fantasy 'I Kill Giants' dinged by glaring unreality

<h3 class="briefHead">"I Kill Giants" - ★ ★ ★</h3>

I'm guessing that Anders Walter's metaphorical "I Kill Giants" opens only at the Woodridge Theater this weekend because its modest scope and reluctance to sensationalize an emotionally traumatized teen girl's retreat into fantasy made it unattractive for a wider release.

It doesn't help that J.A. Bayona's superbly crafted "A Monster Calls" covered the same subject matter with greater imagination and dramatic intensity last year.

"I Kill Giants," based on Joe Kelly's comic book, stars Madison Wolfe as Barbara, an outcast who wears bent bunny ears and builds elaborate (and quite deadly) traps in the woods to snare the giant monsters she thinks will destroy her town.

We suspect her visions are a product of a mysterious mental malady, although the movie occasionally suggests they might be more.

Barbara and her brother are being raised by their caring but exasperated working sister (Imogen Poots).

Not even the dedicated school psychologist (and new mother) Mrs. Molle (Zoe Saldana) can break through Barbara's shields.

Young Sydney Wade plays Sophia, Barbara's spunky new neighbor who deserves more background than Kelly's screenplay allows. She befriends Barbara, whose increasing symptoms of mental illness make her the target of a bully (Rory Jackson).

Walters downplays the greater theme in "I Kill Giants," about how females in a small northeastern town make it a priority to help each other while still dealing with their own challenges.

The fantasy sequences - too similar to those in "A Monster Calls" - make the least dramatic moments in a movie built upon an unconvincing reality.

How did Barbara construct those heavy, boulder-sized traps high in the trees? How did she set a huge fire at an empty train depot and nobody noticed?

Nonetheless, the movie's bluntly delivered message to young girls, "You are stronger than you think," resonates with power and authority.

<b>Starring:</b> Madison Wolfe, Zoe Saldana, Sydney Wade, Imogen Poots

<b>Directed by:</b> Anders Walter

<b>Other:</b> A Bleeker Street Media release. Not rated, but suitable for general audiences. 106 minutes