Jack the Giant Slayer

  Is it me or are we getting more and more fairy tale movies than expected? I mean, we've had “Red Riding Hood,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “Beastly,” “Snow White and the Huntsman,” “Mirror Mirror,” “Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters,” and now we have “Jack the Giant Slayer.” Is this starting to become a trend in film making for this decade? But anyways, let's talk about “Jack the Giant Slayer.”

For the most part, it follows the fairy tale of “Jack and the Beanstalk,” while going in another direction. Jack is a simple farm-boy, who sells his horse instead of a cow, for magic beans. And doing so, he is hated by his guardian, which is his uncle instead of his mother. Jack also encounters the princess, who wants to have an adventure, like she always wanted as a kid. But when the beanstalk starts growing, Jack's house and the princess are taken up to the skies, and Jack has to go with the King's men, one of which is the villain and the princess' fiance. But as they reach the top, they encounter giants and now Jack has get the princess before the giants attack the mainlands.

Now, this film has been put in post-production for years now, and it was originally scheduled to come out in June of last year. This is another one of many films that have been in production backfire, and pushed back to this year, even after getting an official release date. Though the reason they give for this one, was due to not going into competition with “The Dark Knight Rises,” which was probably smart for them. And before you ask, no I don't think this is better than “DKR...” in fact, it was a pretty mediocre film.

The story is just basically being a “go to point a to point b then point a” and it got pretty dull. Don't get me wrong, there are films that do it well, but I'm saying it didn't work here. There wasn't that much depth in the plot, and the characters...aren't that interesting, and that's not good, because these are all good actors. Nicholas Hoult as Jack wasn't really that much. He didn't really seem that invested in what he was doing, until it reaches the end when the giants attack the mainland. This isn't that much, because I enjoy Nicholas Hoult as an actor, but for him to do this and then “Warm Bodies,” it's like no one knows how to give him what he needs. Stanley Tucci as the fiance and the bad guy, while okay, could have done SO much more with the character he was playing. In fact, I think he was way better in “The Hunger Games” than he was here. Eleanor Tomlinson was SO BORING as the princess. For a princess that wanted to be un-princess like, she still acts like the same damsel in distress throughout the film, which doesn't really make it that much. Oh, and also, hardly any chemistry between her and Jack, wouldn't you say? Ian McShane plays the King, and he doesn't do that much at all. Sure he does somethings, but he isn't all that memorable. If you'd cut him out of the film, you'd probably have the same movie. Not only that, but most of the giants are pretty much the same person. They're gross, ugly, stupid, and only the leader is the one who has the most character. Oh and by the way, the leader is played by Bill Nighy and the guy who played the Crypt Keeper.

So what was good about the film? Well, I'll admit, Ewan McGregor was alright. He has some memorable moments, especially at the end, when he takes on Stanley Tucci, but it's not enough. That, and a few of the action scenes are pretty good. Some don't last long, in fact the second one happens to be the climax, but that's it. Some of the 3D was alright, but there wasn't enough for it to be in your face or atmospheric.

Overall, “Jack the Giant Slayer” is pretty disappointing and not that eventful. Is it better than Nicholas Hoult's last film, “Warm Bodies?” Yes...and no. If you want to see a film with better effects and characters, I'd say “Warm Bodies,” but in terms of something that sticks to it's genre strongly, then “Jack the Giant Slayer” works...slightly.

Rating: 4/10