Movie Review: Jack the Giant Slayer (PG-13)

Fee-fi-fo-fum! Feel a little safer at bedtime knowing that, “Jack the Giant Slayer” has arrived at a theater near you. Taking a big, or giant, leap from the storybook to the big screen, Jack (Nicholas Hoult), formerly of beanstalk fame, breaks onto the screen in vibrant 3-D, armed with state-of-the-art CGI illusions. As we all know from childhood stories, it is not Jack that we have to fear, but rather the big guys at the top of the beanstalk that are bent on invading the land of the humans down below.

In the original tale, Jack’s mother commissioned him to sell an old cow for cash. In this 2013 rendition, Jack’s cranky, old grandfather gives him a horse to sell in town. In both cases, and for various reasons, poor Jack arrives home with magic beans instead of cash. Fortunately, the magic beans turn the drab, medieval yarn into an exciting adventure well worth passing on to frightened children for hundreds of years.

When the beans inadvertently germinate and create a tower of vegetation to the clouds, the story officially gets exciting. It isn’t long until the ugliest CGI giants you have ever witnessed appear and the heat is on for young Jack to save his world from the grizzly giants. Add a beautiful princess named Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson) who gets caught up in the action, and you have a legendary, visual account of bravery and romance as Jack goes about taking care of the giant- slaying business.

Screenwriters Darren Lemke, Christopher McQuarrie and Dan
Studney do an excellent job of melding an age-old collection of “Jack” fairytales
into one exciting story with a running time just short of two hours. With no
goose that laid golden eggs, no magic harp and no helpful giant’s wife to help
in a pinch, Jack still manages to save the day and the entire kingdom from
ruin. There are no surprises or twists of plot, just plenty of giant-fight
action to awe and amuse.

Director Bryan Singer (“Superman Returns,” “X-Men”) makes the most of the epic battle scene at the end of the film as the giants lay siege to the castle. Settle in for a long battle as the castle dwellers bring out the latest in medieval weaponry, flaming oil on the moat, heavy-duty catapults, fancy crossbows and machine-gun style arrow shooters. The giants answer with anything that they can get over the castle walls, flaming trees, huge boulders and fellow giants.

Prepare yourself for a two-hour journey back in time, beautifully filmed and fast-paced, but weak in plot and somewhat lacking in character development. Under the direction of Bryan Singer the transition from 2013 to the Middle Ages is swift
and complete. Just as you are becoming acclimated to the time change, the
giants arrive on the screen to capture your imagination and whisk you back to
childhood, fears and all.   I give it 2 out of 4 stars (or magic beans) for pure adventure and great CGI effects.