A great take on the classic children’s fairy tale, Jack the Giant Slayer is a fun blockbuster to take the kids too. Directed by Bryan Singer, this film takes a pretty direct approach to the story without adding too much fluff to beef up the content. That said, the story does elaborate a bit more on the story of Jack, and in doing so allows the audience to really get caught up in the action of the film.
The film begins with Jack as a boy, his father reading him a bedtime story of the giants in the sky. Initially reassured by his father that the cause for the thunder is not the footsteps of giants in the sky, Jack is set to worry again when asking his father, “How do you know there’s no such thing as giants”, to which his father cryptically replies “I don’t…”.
Skip forward quite a few year and Jack (Nicholas Hoult) is now living with his uncle on a farm, since his father has passed away. Cutting straight to the chase of the plot, Jack is sent away to the castle to sell their horse and cart in order to make some money. Within the castle, sinister deeds seem to be taking place, as Roderick (Stanley Tucci), a noble man courting the princess, plots to steal the magic beans from the tombs of the kings in order to use the giants in his plot against the King.
As legends tell, there is a magic crown (which he too has in his possession) that can bend the might of the giants to the wearer’s will. This is quite a handy little tool it turns out! A monk seeking to foil Roderick’s plan steals the beans and gives them to Jack. Later that night, the adventure-seeking princess Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson) comes to seek shelter from the rain in Jack’s farmhouse. However as luck would have it, the magic beans do indeed get wet and sprout into the massive fabled beanstalks. Leaving Jack behind, the sprout shoots up into the sky, taking the princess and his house with it.
Waking up in the morning to destruction, a massive beanstalk, a disappeared princess and a concerned King, Jack has to make things right. Aided by the deceptive Roderick and led by the Kings finest knight, Elmont (Ewan McGregor), Jack climbs up the bean stalk.
All in all this film is a simple pleasure to watch. If you’re not expecting to be entirely mentally stimulated or to catch an Oscar worthy performance, the film provides sufficient thrills. As mentioned previously, it will do great as a day out with kids on a rainy spring weekend. The production is fantastically good quality, with the visuals creating much of the excitement.
Although I am rather put off by the needlessness of the 3D, it certainly doesn’t hurt the action sequences of the film. The cast do a lovely job with Ewan McGregor’s performance as the confident and quirky Knight Elmont definitely adding some great humour to the action. It was great that the giants spoke and actually had motives and a plan to get back down to the land of man. Although the plot does move along predictably, as we all are familiar with this story this wasn’t to the film’s detriment.
Jack the Giant Slayer is a good action film for the young at heart. If you are up for some simple thrills and some really great CGI action sequences, this film is certainly recommended. Solid family fun.
Reviewer: Kevin Van Der Ham