“Am I dead?,” asks Jack (Nicholas Hoult). “Not quite yet,” replies Elmont (Ewan McGregor) as they climb the huge beanstalk to the land of the giants to save princess Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson) in the fantasy adventure film Jack the Giant Slayer.
In this new twist on the classic fairy tale, Jack is a poor peasant who’s smitten with the beautiful princess after standing up for her against a small group of thugs. He ends up getting a hold of the magic beans by selling his horse to a desperate monk trying to avoid Sir Roderick’s (Stanley Tucci) men. It seems Roderick, who is set to marry the Princess, has plans for the magic beans himself.
The next night, during a rainstorm, the princess – who once again has ventured out of the castle in search of another adventure – seeks shelter at Jack’s home. While Jack and the Princess playfully flirt with one another, one of the magic beans gets wet, having fallen under the floor to the ground under the house.
Almost instantly, the beanstalk bursts through the floor, into the room, and through the roof of the house, carrying the screaming princess and Jack’s home up, up, up into the clouds, with Jack falling to the ground and passing out.
The following day, Jack, along with the King (Ian McShane), Elmont, Roderick, and the rest of the King’s entourage, having discovered the beanstalk begin to realize that perhaps the old legend of giants being banished up into the land in the sky by a great King with a magical crown might be more than old tales. The King orders Elmont to take his knights and climb the beanstalk to save Isabelle, and both Roderick and Jack volunteer to go along and help. So the adventure to save the princess and take on the mighty giants who would like nothing better than to find a way down to the kingdom to take it over begins.
Unoriginal and unimpressive, Jack the Giant Slayer is a fantasy adventure that does nothing to improve on a classic tale.
The film has a decent cast with Nicholas Hoult (Warm Bodies) as the hero, Jack, and Eleanor Tomlinson as the beautiful princess who are drawn to each other, both yearning for a more exciting life than what they currently have. Ewan McGregor is one of the best things about the film as the loyal Elmont determined to save the princess he has guarded and watched over since she was a young girl. He plays the role with just the right mix of tongue-in-cheek humor that would have benefitted the film greatly had the writers and director put even more of it in the movie via the other characters.
Stanley Tucci is exceptionally amusing as Roderick, the other villain – besides the CGI giants – in the movie, who once again has a few enjoyable affable lines and scenes in the film.
One of the biggest problems with the movie is it never really decides on the tone and, at times, gets far too dark and gross for younger moviegoers. It’s extremely uneven and will be very upsetting to children under 10.
The special effects and all the CGI work with the giants are lacking and mediocre at best. The Troll in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone looks light-years ahead of the giants up on the screen here. Fantasy filmgoers will surely be disappointed.
With its second-rate CGI and uneven tone, Jack the Giant Slayer falls far from being an enjoyable twist on the classic fairy tale and never really grows into the adventure it should be. Moviegoers would be better off watching the Disney classic Mickey and the Beanstalk instead.
GRADE: C-
Jack the Giant Slayer hit theaters on March 1, 2013 and is rated PG-13 for intense scenes of fantasy action violence, some frightening images, and brief language.
