Jack the Giant Slayer (2013) User Reviews

A film your children can watch

[siderite · 7/10 · 1 June 2013]

Unlike many of Hollywood's reimaginings of fairy tales, this film is actually decent. One can let children watch this in the same manner our grandparents were reading the original stories. It has morals, it is pretty, actors play well and, most of all, it is not condescendingly stupid. Instead, one can actually enjoy this on almost all levels.

It was funny to see actors Ewan McGregor and Ewen Bremner play in a film together again (Rents and Spud), but they had no real interaction. Nicholas Hoult was OK as the hero of the story and Stanley Tucci, as usual, a great villain. The one that was rather disappointing was the princess, clearly a role that was not really thought out much more than "cute damsel in distress, ready for the rescue". Her father wasn't much either, but at least he had lines. Also, for a movie "made in USA" a great many English actors. Even the story was set in England, as we see in the end.

Bottom line: while not the best movie ever, it was certainly an entertaining blockbuster that retained a lot of the feel and plot of the original fairy tale. It also manages to have an insane body count without actually showing any blood. The US rating system is idiotic for sure. Anyway, the movie was fun. I can recommend it for an easy watch.

Family Faire

[didonatope · 7/10 · 2 March 2013]

It's pretty much a guarantee that if you grew up with fairy tales, you would certainly know the story of Jack and The Beanstalk. I know I have; when I was a kid, this story was everywhere. I saw it played out by Mickey Mouse in the "Fun and Fancy Free," by Snoopy in "The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show," and by Bugs Bunny in "Jack Wabbit and The Beanstalk." The tale is a timeless child's fantasy story, and for that alone, this movie mostly succeeds.

After the opening credits, the film opens with an introduction of our two main characters: Jack (played by Nicholas Hoult, fresh off his role in last month's "Warm Bodies") and princess Isabelle (played by Elanor Tomlinson). Just like in the original fairy tale, Jack is a poor farm hand who is tricked into trading valuable livestock (in this movie it's a horse rather than a cow) for supposed "magic beans." Princess Isabelle, however is pretty much the textbook definition of a Disney princess. Her mother is dead, her father is an over-protective king who wants her to marry someone she doesn't like, she's tired of her boring life in the palace and dreams of adventure. When I first came across this character, I immediately planned on chastising her as extremely clichéd in this review. However, once I began watching this in the context of a kids movie, I found this to be much more tolerable. Though in a 2013-released film, it still feels kind of dated.

Those expecting another "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters" will be disappointed. This movie is pretty family-friendly overall and has a light hearted attitude throughout. Despite this film's hefty body count, the characters consistently joke around and get themselves into shenanigans. It could very well be irritating to those expecting a more mature fantasy based on the rating and advertising, as it does admittedly feel too silly at times. However, as a family film, the combination of violence and silliness makes it somewhat a fusion of the family films of the 80's and 90's respectively.

The rest of the characters are decently developed, including the sinister Lord Roderick (played by Stanley Tucci) and the noble knight Elmont (played by Ewan McGreggor). No character was given that much development, which I actually didn't really mind. I knew enough about each character, and in a fast-paced fairy tale like this, keeping the plot moving and interesting were the most important aspects.

The giants were pretty interesting too. In a way, they reminded me of the trolls in last year's "The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey," as they are excessively gross, uncivilized and high-tempered. I'm certain that kids will get a laugh out of their flatulent, booger-eating ways. I was initially concerned that this film would just portray them as unstoppable villains with no personality. Instead, the film fleshes them out a bit and gives them a motive for their actions. I certainly wouldn't mind a prequel film giving more meat to their hatred for mankind.

The cast gives their all, especially Nicholas Hoult. Here he brings to Jack the same charm and timidity he gave to R in "Warm Bodies." I feel that he he has the capability and likability to carry a movie as the lead role, and I look forward to his future endeavors next year.

"Jack The Giant Slayer" will reasonably divide critics and audiences, but if I had kids, I would have no problem taking them to see this. It's a fun little adventure that kids and open-minded adults will get a kick out of.

Fine retelling of the familiar story

[cornflakeboy20 · 6/10 · 27 February 2013]

In this retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk, the title character and a runaway princess are thrust into the sky when vines sprouting from the magic beans vault Jack's cabin into the sky. A race of giants exiled there by the power of a magic crown plots to return below and recapture the human kingdom. The King sends a rescue party of his knights and the princess's evil fiancé to rescue the princess, and the evil prince uses the magical crown in an attempt to seize the power of the giants to take over the kingdom.

It was refreshing to find a non ironic, non meta straightforward telling of this story, with some elements of charm and humor. The 3D is fairly unspectacular, although there are great sequences, such as the collapse of the vine which causes catastrophic damage below. The body count, for a family film, is quite high, surpassing some of the later Harry Potter movies. It is also notable that there are virtually no females in either the giants' or human's realm. The cast is fine, and Nicholas Hoult makes a fine Jack, and brings more life and personality to the role than he did earlier this year with "Warm Bodies."

Most elements of the film work quite well and it has the potential to work alongside dark family fare like "The Never Ending Story" or "The Dark Crystal."

I liked it

[Gordon-11 · 12 February 2014]

This film tells the story of a farm boy who battles giants from the sky valiantly, alongside brave soldiers and the princess of the kingdom.

I put off watching "Jack the Giant Slayer" because the giants are really ugly! During the film, I kept having sweaty palms because of the scenes involving heights. Those scenes were really scary. I liked the lead character Jack, because he is approachable boy next door. It is a refreshing tale to see him rising through the ranks and valiantly serve his country. The interweaving story telling scenes in the beginning annoyed me a little, because I thought it was a bit too forced. Overall, I like "Jack the Giant Slayer", because of the poignant ending.

7 beanstalks out of 10

[martinrobertson300482 · 7/10 · 23 April 2013]

Or – A new take on Jack and the beanstalk. "Jack the giant slayer" takes a classic tale and breaths new life into it. So many try and fail at this, but this flick moderately succeeds. Despite a troubled production.

Film sees Jack. A young farmers son, sell his horse for some magic beans, which end up growing into a massive beanstalk. This beanstalk leads too a legendary land in the clouds, where the promised giants off the title roam. Sounds familiar? That's because it is. But its been delved into further, with more characters, some extra imagination, and many action set pieces thrown in, to make it a damn good feature length family movie.

Its not perfect. For everyone loving the fact its action packed, there will be those who find it seriously over heavy on the cartoony CGI. There are some cheesy moments, and some bad gags. But these are not overwhelming, in a film that is over all good fun.

Visually impressive but soulless

[pinkled5 · 6/10 · 7 March 2013]

As I left the theater after watching this movie I tried to put my finger on the reason why I felt so underwhelmed by what I had just watched. Perhaps it was the overly simplistic video game plot (save the princess), the lack of a well defined villain, or the lackluster development of any of the characters. In the end I couldn't precisely point to any single issue that derailed my ability to really enjoy this viewing. What this movie really lacked was the ability to engage the audience on any meaningful level whether it be emotional, mental or otherwise. In short, it's soulless. I don't know exactly what gives a movie its soul but I know when it's missing and this movie, unfortunately, was quite lacking.

Perfect sibling time

[shadyxmas69 · 7/10 · 10 March 2014]

Frankly I was prepared to watch a huge waste of money on crappy visual effects and famous actors. It turned out to be pleasant time with my brother. Jack and the Beanstalk is a well-known international fable with not so well story compared to other myths and fables, but the writer did a great job adapting the scripts. Visual effects are good-not bad- and nothing is overrated. Watching Jack the giant slayer is a nice sibling time. Highly recommended. Somehow I'm not looking forward to watch a sequel of the story. Especially not with giants walking around London. it's like watching Thor: the dark world (2013) all over again.

A popcorn entertainer

[vicarious_tool · 6/10 · 2 March 2013]

This is a movie with a simple story, not the best acting performances and giant visual effects. So if you're up for some eye-candy and want to give your thinking brain a rest, go for it; but like I've heard from others, pick the best and biggest 3-D screen in town. Keep in mind however that this is no Life of Pi in terms of effects either.

The story is the clichéd young boy-princess-evil others trio, without much added creativity in terms of dialogues and I wasn't impressed by Nicholas Holt's acting skills either and there were some gross sequences involving the Giants, in case you like that stuff but apart from the effects I do not think it has much to offer.

A film only for undemanding children who don't know how magical cinema should be.

[TheSquiss · 3/10 · 27 March 2013]

There's a Jack, there are many giants but, whilst a reasonable number of them are slain by the end of it, Jack can't actually take credit for many of them.

There had been rumours of 'issues' with Jack the Giant Slayer and the delayed release accentuated the concerns, but expectation was still high for the adventure romp. And so it is with disappointment I must pause for a moment to sigh. Heavily.

Adapted from the fairy tale, the origin of which is uncertain, Brian Singer's film takes liberties with the most commonly known version of Jack and the Beanstalk, including with the classic rhyme that we all know begins:

Fe-fi-fo-fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman…

Not in this version! In this version, Jack lives with his uncle (Christopher Fairbank), who sends him off to market to sell the cart. Jack prefers instead to watch Warwick Davies in a pantomime of, yes, Jack and the Beanstalk, then gallantly save a beautiful girl who happens to be the princess, before emerging to discover the cart has been stolen. He promptly sells the horse for a handful of beans that grow in to a beanstalk that reaches a mythical land of giants. And so it goes on.

Do you remember when The Usual Suspects arrived and we thought Bryan Singer had the potential to be a great director? Well, he's forgotten how to do what he once did. In 2008's Valkyrie, a story that history tells us ends badly, Singer placed us on the edge of our seats, leaving us hoping desperately that the history books were wrong. It was thrilling. Jack the Giant Slayer isn't.

Yes, much of it looks pretty. The giants, in close-up at least, look fine, some of the CGI is impressive (just don't look at the fire too closely), the scenery is attractive, the beanstalk grows well, there are some humorous moments like the pig in blankets gag and some of the characters are enjoyable to watch. But this is a film only for undemanding children who have yet to learn how magical cinema can be.

The preamble and prologue are painful and manage to be twee, patronising and tedious simultaneously. Much of the potential humour is lost by poor delivery (incorrectly emphasized, over-egged or just ineptly spouted) and poor scripting and a lack of attention to detail further damage the experience. What the hell happens to the uncle? He just disappears, never to be seen again. How is it that the crown fits tightly to Roderick's (Stanley Tucci) head, then fits easily around two of General Fallon's (Bill Nighy) fingers and then slots onto a human head again? Have a look at the diameter of his fingers compared to human heads. How did Singer miss that?

More than that, there is zero chemistry between Jack (Nicholas Hoult) and Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson) and, even worse, Hoult couldn't be bothered to turn up to the shoot and sent his cardboard cutout instead. How did nobody notice that he really can't act in this? What happened to the Hoult who showed promise in About a Boy and Skins? Trust me, he is emphatically not a reason to sit through two hours of Jack the Giant Slayer.

The Ewans McGregor and Bremner both have fun hamming it up and wearing comedy hairstyles and Bill Nighy gives a good vocal performance as principal baddie without his trademark snort-laugh. Jack the Giant Slayer generally passes the time, but it does a Cutthroat Island on us: promises much excitement but delivers little whimpers and the odd smile.

Eddie Marsan is given barely 10 lines before he is dispatched elsewhere. Ian McShane as King Brahmwell looks uncomfortable delivering stilted, cheesy dialogue. As for Isabelle, why bother? She serves only to make Jack look heroic (though he fails anyway) and her part in this story does little for the viewer other than to imply that the four writers behind this don't actually like writing for women. If you need more evidence, guess how many of the giants are female. None! Watch Jack the Giant Slayer because you need to get the kids out of the house, but keep your expectations low and prove that you're a good parent in a few months by taking them to see Iron Man 3.

Surely that has to be better… For more reviews from The Squiss, subscribe to my blog and like the Facebook page.

Good family movie

[rsmcat · 7/10 · 21 July 2013]

Watched this movie on DVD and loved it. Its the type of movie the whole family will sit down and enjoy from begging to end. No nudity, no sex, no bad language etc. The whole movie makes sense. Its all well connected. The acting is not great. Could have been better, but that doesn't take the fun away at all. The directing is great. Doesn't leave holes in the script and makes you keep your eyes on the screen every second. The narrative is smooth and linear. No fill in the gaps there. To be honest, liked it better them the new Man of Steel (which hides its lack of narrative behind lots of CGI). Almost forgot to mention the special effects. They are great. I feel sorry for the "critics" that wrote bad reviews. They are simply unable to have fun with a well told fairy tail. They buy into the Hollywood hype of 20 million dollar actors, senseless action, lots of CGI... This movie is simple, not pretentious, fun, well directed and brings a lot of magic into the big screen.

Jack the Giant-Jackass!

[sohansurag · 4/10 · 4 April 2013]

Bryan Singer is undoubtedly a very skilled Director, this is the guy who gave us The Usual Suspects and the best example for the first perfect comicbook movie: X-Men. Known for handling an ensemble cast with ease, his direction packs all kinda punch. Cant say all these lately though. Remember that awful Superman Returns? It was more a mushy Lois and Clarke story than a good Superman movie, pushing the franchise further down to depths.

Another addition to his disgrace is this year's Jack The Giant Slayer. Unlike studios going for rebooting every piece of crap there is, this one is cashing on the 're-imagined retelling of a classic fairytale'. Previously we had got the moronic Snow White & The Huntsman and the amusing but shallow Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters. This time though the wheel of misfortune landed on a modern day retelling of Jack & The Beanstalk. I used to love the tale of Jack, the beanstalk, the golden goose and but of course the giant. The illustrations from the huge fairytale book still afresh in my head. It was as simple as that and exactly why it retains the title of one of the best fairy tales ever. What we've got here with Jack The Giant Slayer is a mangled mess of a fairytale. Jack The Giant Slayer is unnecessarily filled with one dimensional characters, a convoluted plot about the war going on between humans and giants and unconvincing CG Giants…loads of em. Despite having some major AAA actors like Ian McShane, Stanley Tucci, Eddie Marsan, everybody among the cast felt like they were forced to act. Even the ever wonderful Ewan McGregor was not at his best here. And please don't get me started on Nicholas Hoult as Jack. I was like WTF when I'd seen him in X-men First Class. If there ever was a male Kristen Stewart counterpart, that'd be him. I say he's better off playing the zombie in Warm Bodies.

The only saving graces are the bewitchingly gorgeous Eleanor Tomlinson as Princess Isabelle who'd, if not by acting charms, will steal the scene via pleasing your eyes and a better mocapped Bill Nighy as the giant General Fallon; he at least brought some life to the otherwise lifeless CG giant. In spite of being PG13 its ridden with very dark visuals. PS: Mr Bryan, If you are still going for a gorefest you better don't chop off the juicy parts…like when a giant is shown biting the head off a guy though quickly snipped so as not to show gore. Now that I've seen this along with Bryan's recent attempts at TV's Mockingbird Lane, my thoughts regarding X-Men Days of the Future Past remains perilously skeptic.

Inoffensive and fun

[jljacobi · 8/10 · 8 July 2013]

I wasn't blown away by this flick, but I did enjoy it. And I also enjoyed...

1. No potty humor 2. No overt sexuality 3. No inappropriate language 4. No seemingly random 3D FX 5. No politically correct messages or characters 6. No strutting egotism

In short, it's not a Follywood movie and you can actually let your kids watch it without worrying too much. There is some violence, but...

The script is well written, the acting is better than good, and it moves along at a pretty lively pace. Not a classic, but good. It might have been better a little shorter, but that can be said of most movies these days.

I was surprised to hear so many complaints.

Scaling heights

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 29 March 2014]

Jack the Giant Slayer is a reworking of Jack and the Beanstalk and a not a remake of the 1963 stop-motion film (Jack the Giant Killer).

The film mixes fairy tale, action and humour with a starry cast. There is a princess, a stoic and decent farm boy, a hiss-able villain and a upright and decent guardsman as well as giants who are all male for some reason.

Stanley Tucci delights as the villain and acts like he walked straight of the set off The Princess Bride. It is just a shame that the rest of the film did not take the slightly off the wall approach of that film.

Its a nice, lighthearted romp with good special effects but the film under-performed at the box office which is a shame as its much more enjoyable than the Transformer films or the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels.

Fee Fi Ho Hum

[thesar-2 · 3/10 · 2 March 2013]

If it weren't for all the graphic violence, albeit mostly off screen and grand number of deaths, I would certainly recommend Jack the Giant Slayer to 9-10 year olds. I think that's the target audience, at least.

It would make my job a lot easier just to list all the faults, such as terrible editing, plot holes big enough for the giants to crawl through, cheap 3-D, so-so acting, bland dialogue and most of all: atrocious and sometimes laugh-out-loud special effects. But, in reality, it wasn't all-around as bad as it could've been.

This is thanks to the efforts of the secondary roles, such as Ewan McGregor's standout performance as Elmont and Ian McShane's King Brahmwell. Even though that last one wasn't great, at least he did decent. Also, every once in a while, the cinematography was good. Not often enough, but enjoyable for what few minutes they showed.

Pretty bland and mostly boring, farmer Jack (Nicolas Hoult) likes adventure, because he tells us and also, naturally, likes Princess Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson.) She, too, favors adventure, or so she tells us. Well, they get their wish when they inadvertently become taken up, up and away a magical beanstalk to, what looks like, just more Earth, only higher. Except, of course, giants reside up there, and they ain't nice.

Enter in basic story-telling – again, great for younger-than-preteens, and get ready for a "giant" battle. Not really, but I thought I would throw that pun in there.

As mentioned, the editing and script left a lot to be finished had they released this later in the year. For example, when the "brave" knights scale the beanstalk and see the house the princess might be still in, the scene abruptly changes to the men actually stating she wasn't in there. I guess we're to assume they checked it, which actually might have been a cool scene to see. Much like the beanstalk that should've been in most of the background shots, but despite everyone always being near it, it's rarely shown. Forgotten, almost.

Oh, and I haven't even got to the bad, bad CGI used for the giants and their juvenile behaviors that might please an even younger crowd than the one intended. Anyone above six most likely rolled their eyes, even unintentionally. In addition to rolling my own eyes, I did shake my head more than a few times, while laughing at the movie in other scenes.

Going back to my original point: I really thought this would be great for young kids, but damn, some people die some horrible ways. Again, mostly off-screen, but they told us exactly how they were slaughtered. Pity. Now, I can't recommend this to any age audience.

Please no sequel. That's my final thought.

A lot better than I thought.

[0U · 14 February 2020]

Jack the Giant Slayer is a hit and miss for the majority of this film it provides all the classic clichés and parts that we would see in a well known children's fairytale and it provides a fair bit of the usual good special effects and action sequences but outside that there isn't that much good about it

Surprisingly enjoyable

[Kane20 · 7/10 · 3 March 2013]

As James Berardinelli points out in his review of this film, Hollywood currently seems to be going through a trend of fairytale/folklore re-imaginations. Unlike what Disney does in their re-imaginations of such stories, these are tending to be darker and more mature, with more adult elements. A couple of these are Alice In Wonderland and Snow White and the Huntsman. I haven't seen the former, but I have seen the latter, and to be honest I wasn't overwhelmed. Now, Hollywood decides it's time for such an adaptation of Jack and the Beanstalk, and along comes director Bryan Singer, who helms Jack the Giant Slayer, which I found to be somewhat enjoyable, and a worthy addition to the current trend.

Nicholas Hoult plays the title character, Jack, a farmboy who has grown up hearing about a legendary tale about giants living in a place between the earth and heaven. Jack soon comes into possession of some magic beans, and soon inadvertently grows a beanstalk that sprouts out from under his house up into the sky, all the way up to the giants' world (carrying the house up with it). Princess Isabelle happens to be in Jack's house when this occurs, and she is caught up in the gigantic sprouting vines and carried up to the giant world (talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time).

Jack climbs up the beanstalk along with the princess's protectors and her fiancé, Roderick, to search for her. However, Roderick has with him a legendary magical crown with the power to exercise control over the giants, and secretly plans to use it to assemble the giants and take over the human world below. Jack, meanwhile, searches for, and eventually falls in love with, the princess.

I was expecting this film to be dorky, and yes, it is a bit so. However, it was actually not as stupid as I thought it would be. In fact, it does have some fairly smart elements. The story follows a fairly simple, straightforward, and predictable trajectory, and it had the potential to expand and be a lot more, and some of the plotting could have been better, but it is entertaining. It even has some good comical moments here and there. The CGI and effects are pretty good. Everything is very well designed and feels alive. The setting is portrayed excellently, especially the giant world. The giants are truly menacing, and, well, if any of these giants existed in real life, I certainly wouldn't want to get near them. The action sequences are good too, although some scenes may be a bit too intense and violent for little children. But what I liked most of all, in terms of the CGI and effects, was the beanstalk.

As with a number of films these days, some of the action and CGI sequences tend to be a little too long and over the top. This is not much of a problem, although they could have cut some of it. The characterization is relatively simple, and character development is a bit lacking, but even so, I liked and cared about the characters. Jack is a good protagonist, and Nicholas Hoult portrays him pretty well. Isabelle is an enjoyable love interest and damsel in distress. And all the other characters, while again, a bit underdeveloped, are all enjoyable in their roles. I even found Ewan McGregor's character likable. And overall, the film does offer a good sense of adventure.

A little while back, I watched Snow White and the Huntsman, and overall I found the film to be so-so. However, in Jack the Giant Slayer, I did find the beginning (up until the beanstalk sprouted and the story really began) to be a bit slow, but after that, I got somewhat interested in the story, world, and characters, and stayed that way for the rest of the movie. Although, as some reviewers have pointed out, only male giants are seen in the film. Where are the females (if any)? If not, how do the giants reproduce? They are not immortal, as some of them die in the film. But still, this does not spoil the film in any way. Again, it is not a great movie; it's most certainly not Oscar material or anything like that. And it's not even trying to be. It's a competent, unpretentious film, neither pretending nor trying to be more than what it is; a fun, decent, fast-paced action/adventure fantasy flick, and a worthy retelling of the old Jack and the Beanstalk fairytale. Don't go see it expecting an incredibly complex and thought provoking film; just sit back and enjoy the show.

One of the main reasons I went to see this film (among others) was because Bryan Singer directed it. I enjoyed the first two X-Men movies and Superman Returns (yes, I liked it), and so I was curious about this film. As it turns out, Bryan Singer proves that he is still a competent film director.

My Rating: *** (out of ****)

Giants actually very scary

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 7 January 2014]

Jack (Nicholas Hoult) is a farm boy who is tasked to sell the horse by his uncle. Instead, he trusts a monk to exchange for magic beans. The monk tried to smuggle the beans from the evil Roderick (Stanley Tucci). With the beans, Roderick hoped to get to the land of the giants. With the magical crown already in hand, he hoped to rule the giants and the world.

Stanley Tucci isn't necessarily the best choice for the villain, and Ewen Bremner is too over the top as the weasel henchman. Nicholas Hoult is a good actor for the lead. Eleanor Tomlinson is just as good as the plucky princess. Ewan McGregor doesn't quite fit as the king's best knight.

The giants are what this movie is about, and are quite grotesque man eaters. That's the whole appeal of this movie. It's a disturbing sight to behold. Not actually seeing them bite people's heads off is interestingly more disturbing. The story could have gotten to the giants a bit sooner. Facing the giants is the best part of the movie especially if they're going to eat you. The battle is compelling but I need more people eating.

Fun!

[namashi_1 · 7/10 · 25 July 2013]

Bryan Singer's 'Jack the Giant Slayer' is Fun! A popcorn entertainer that delivers!

'Jack the Giant Slayer' Synopsis: The ancient war between humans and a race of giants is reignited when Jack, a young farmhand fighting for a kingdom and the love of a princess, opens a gateway between the two worlds.

'Jack the Giant Slayer' has amazing visual effects, stylish direction, good performances & above all, a well-written Screenplay. The film never bores.

Darren Lemke, Christopher McQuarrie & Dan Studney's Screenplay is well-done, it focuses on adventure & moves on a fast-pace. Bryan Singer's Direction is stylish. Visual effects are amazing. Cinematography is top-class.

Performance-Wise: Nicholas Hoult is impressive as Jack. Eleanor Tomlinson looks pretty & delivers confidently. Ewan McGregor is super, as always. Stanley Tucci is menacing. Ian McShane is passable. Bill Nighy delivers a very strong vocal performance.

On the whole, 'Jack the Giant Slayer' doesn't disappoint.

A great adaptation of Jack and the Beanstalk

[anasnajmie · 7/10 · 2 March 2013]

Plot: The plot is as simple as it can be; it stay mostly true to the original fairy tale. A farmer boy (Jack) got his hands on magical beans, and one of them fell on the ground beneath his wooden house. A beautiful yet adventurous princess (Isabelle) took shelter at his home when the bean grew into a giant beanstalk, bringing the princess (and his house) up to the kingdom of giants. Now, it is up for Jack to save Isabelle (and subsequently the human nation on the ground) from the ruthless, mad, human-eating Giants who have hold their revenge against human for centuries...

Review: As I said before, the plot is very simple. Yet, the fact that the storyline is simple and uncomplicated makes the movie very enjoyable to watch. The director clearly focus on entertaining the crowd with good humor and charm, and thrill the crowd with fast-paced action which never gets boring. Well done to the director Bryan Singer.

The castings are a bit surprising. Using mainly British actors, only Ewan McGregor and Stanley Tucci are the actors that I can recognized. However, the lead character, Jack (Nicholas Hoult) gave an plausible acting in the movie. He did a good job as a likable and humble farmer boy. Though to be fair, his character is rather simple. Isabelle, played by Eleanor Tomlinson, is a princess who is adventurous and wants some independence from his boring royal life. Jack & Isabelle (hmmm...Jacob & Isabella from twilight..coincidence?) is perfect for each other,and bring a jolly and cheerful feel to the audience. General Elmont, played by McGregor, stands out with his charm and comedy. The choice of Trucci as Roderick, the human villain is somewhat refreshing, as he played a comedic evil guy who is very easy to hate. All in all, the castings played a good job in their role, as what was to be expected from their simple, straightforward character.

The cinematic in the movie was stunning. The giants were rendered in detail. And there were many of them. Some of the scenes can be gory (giants torturing human, eating their heads out, stomping on them like bugs etc). The effect of the beans grow to their gigantic size was epic. Well, this is a big budget movie after all.

In conclusion, this movie is fun to watch, whether with friends or family. There are many funny moments, beautifully rendered scenes, and there's the love line of a farmer boy and a princess. And they live happily ever after. What more do you want? This is a fairy tale after all.

Final Verdict: 6.8/10. A light-hearted movie, suitable for all. Recommended.

Not even worth the dollar theater

[tanamwob-692-960145 · 2/10 · 21 May 2013]

I went into this movie with no expectations, and I was still disappointed. The entire beginning segment mirrors Hellboy II: The Golden Army in storytelling method so closely I had to mind check that it was not the same director. Irritation at the familiar-yet-inferior beginning aside, the entire movie felt like a slow climb that never actually ends up going anywhere. It begins with potential, what could have been a great fairy-tale retelling - it ends a silly replay of the same-old-same-old. This does nothing for the tale of Jack and the Giants. Watch one of the older, better re-tellings. Please note, this is absolutely NOT a movie for children. I saw children, even babies, at this screening, all of whom left slightly more frightened of the world, though they might not have understood completely why. I didn't walk out, but I would never watch it again, nor would I recommend it to anyone. One star for Bill Nighy's voice acting (always a treat), one star for Ewan McGregor's hair.

Adventurous Feast

[billygoat1071 · 7/10 · 21 March 2013]

Hollywood has been re-imagining fairy tales into new scale blockbusters these days and all of those films had ambitions of their own. One wants to be sexy, the other tries to be gritty and epic, and lastly the most recent one tries to be campy, mature, and violent. Though, many of them didn't work by some of their directorial pretentiousness, or just terrible filmmaking or writing choices. Jack The Giant Slayer simply fills the journey with enjoyable adventures and thrills. It has the potential of becoming a modest modern classic. It's getting closer but it's still a solid adventurous blockbuster that would satisfy for the ones who seeks for some excitement because this film really knows how to have fun.

It was recently criticized for being corny and visually dated. It's reasonable why people would react that way especially since our blockbusters nowadays are getting darker and had much better special effects leaving these giant creatures look underwhelming. But if you ignore the quality of the creature designs, the new story is better than any other fairy tale re-envisioned films had offered to the screen. It has a clever new mythology and plot that makes it intriguing. Of course, it is all about the adventure and the film is rich in that. It does more than glossing it over by the visual effects. It has the sense of excitement and has plenty of suspense and fortitude.

The story and character development could have been rich as well. Not saying the characters are bland. The characters here are actually much lively than any characters from most modern blockbuster. We should thank that to the actors. Nicholas Hoult blatantly has the looks of an adventure hero, that's the same with Eleanor Tomlinson as a Princess, but they both make the characters appealing. Ewan McGregor gives a fun personality to his character who is usually serious but also dashing. Ian McShane wonderfully shows the King's fatherly trait. For the villains, Stanley Tucci effectively plays it playful and mischievous, and Bill Nighy uses his threatening villainous turn as voicing the boss giant.

It's directed by Bryan Singer and he brings a total enjoyment to the action. The writing could have improved to the parts that falter but overall it is still pretty good. The effects is solid enough, though the giants are not that amazing nor awesomely scary but they only tend to look like typical monsters. The production designs and costumes somehow says it all. You see most films set in medieval times always have dirty armory, weapons, and inventory because those days were brutal and gritty but here they are somewhat clean and that explains the tone of the film. It's not dreadfully dark but it's just simply adventurous if you know what I'm saying. They are all eye candy.

Jack The Giant Slayer might be the top among these blockbusterized fairy tale films. The others are just pretentious, dull, and bland. This one is large in scale but has life. Some of its life gaps in some parts, but why bother? This is just a blockbuster that wants to be exciting. Even though the visuals are not that innovating, the film does more than showing off its CGI. Since moviegoers' only pleasure today is to see the most appealing special effects, well this may not be everyone's first choice but it shows the example of what a fun film truly is. It's not a classic, yet it's smart and thrilling enough. It's still flawed but at least better than any other pretentious generic dreads, Jack The Giant Slayer is a solid fantasy film.

I wasn't expecting a masterpiece, but I'd think Bryan Singer could've delivered a much more compelling and entertaining movie.

[FlixChatter · 4/10 · 2 March 2013]

I've actually never seen any Jack and the Beanstalk movie before, but of course I'm familiar with this bedtime story. I was curious enough about this one given that it's directed by Bryan Singer.

It starts unpredictably enough, with Jack's father reading him a bedtime story and of course Jack always believed it's not just a myth. Fast forward to a decade or so later and Jack's now living with his farmer uncle. After his father's death and on the way of selling his horse to make ends meet, he inadvertently comes into possession of the magic beans that has the power to open the gateway between human race and giants. "No matter what you do, makes sure you don't get these wet," said the man who gave Jack those beans. Well, that's exactly what happen when one of them fell underneath Jack's house and rain poured heavily one fateful night. That one small bean ends up growing into a giant beanstalk that shoot up and up to the sky... and soon, all hell break loose.

You can pretty much guess what's going to happen next. In fact, this movie has zero intrigue as it's as if you've seen this story played out in your head. Now, there are a lot of fairy tale movies where you know the story by heart but yet the fresh adaptations still manage to surprise and entertain you (Tangled is one that comes to mind, which is based on the classic fairy tale of Rapunzel). Alas, this film is NOT one of them.

Neither the adventure nor the romance is the stuff of legend as it were, in fact, if you're older than say seven or eight, you'll likely be bored watching this movie. The British pair Nicholas Hoult and Eleanor Tomlinson as Princess Isabelle barely has any chemistry despite their best effort, but then again they never stood a chance when their dialog is so uninspired. I guess I shouldn't be surprised this was written by Christopher McQuarrie who gave us the abysmal The Tourist!! This film has all the elements money can buy, what with the computer-generated giants and impressive effects of the beanstalk forming all the way up to the sky, but clearly money doesn't buy great scripts. I mean it SHOULD, but for some reason, studios seem intent on squandering their money on CGI and elaborate set pieces instead of a story and characters worth caring for.

It's a big waste of talents too. I mean, I think 23-year-old Hoult is a pretty decent actor and has enough leading man charisma, but for some reason he's just not all that interesting to watch here. Tomlinson looked like she's about to cry at every moment it's irritating, I don't really know if that's the director's fault or that's just her acting style.

The supporting cast is an even bigger waste! Ian McShane, Stanley Tucci, and Ewan McGregor are so grossly underutilized here it's criminal! Even McShane seems bored and uncomfortable under that gold full plate armor and the only funny part involving Tucci you've already seen it in the trailer. The CGI giants look realistic enough, which I'm sure that's where most of the gigantic budget cost went to, but despite their size they have no personality whatsoever other than the stereotypical gross, uncivilized behavior. They remind me of the goblins in The Hobbit, only much less amusing. The 3D is just fine, not distracting, but it doesn't add much either. Once again it's just another studio gimmick to extract more money when a regular format would do just fine.

I wasn't expecting a masterpiece, but I'd think Bryan Singer could've delivered a much more compelling and entertaining movie. After all, this is the director who brought us the excellent X-Men franchise before all the superhero movies came along. He's proved that a comic book movie could be more than just fluff, you'd think he could do the same with a fairy tale story.

Unfortunately, this film is such a giant waste of $190+ mil to me. Overused plot lines, clichéd characters and dialog, and every joke and line seems to have been recycled from things we've seen before. Kids might enjoy the CGI wonders... but adults will realize it's a soulless piece of cinema.

Very Underrated - What Critics Didn't Understand

[CelluloidDog · 9/10 · 16 October 2018]

After watching this film a couple times and reading reviews, I have to come to the conclusion that many critics don't watch movies and perhaps people fell for the critics misjudgment. According to critics on RottenTomatoes, etc, Jack the Giant Slayer falls into the mediocre realm badly over budgeted. That's the only thing I think they got right. To spend $195M or so on this film simply wasn't worthwhile. Easily less could be spent on a high quality film. But that's the risk in show business. Now let's get down to the real (good) stuff.

First, there was the claim this movie wasn't a family movie since it was too scary. You have to be kidding. Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit Trilogy were far more sinister and traumatic to watch. Orcs, trolls and goblins are not pretty sights and they do the same as the giants in this movie. So strike one for the critics. This film actually is produced by Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema so it fells into the Rings and Hobbit series.

The attack on it as a non-family movie with sinister overtones isn't true. There are witty, humorous parts of the film. Perhaps not as much as there should be. So, yes it could be more fun with a couple more lines or characters.

Critics are attack it for a weak script. I don't think they listened or followed the movie. Rather the script is very well written and conceived. It's almost poetic. It opens and ends with a creative story-telling verse and the script flows well.

Direction and special effects were terrific. Acting by the main roles was reasonable, not great, so it does fall short on this account but supporting roles were terrific. If you liked Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, this apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. Definitely worth watching. An 8 or 9 out of 10. (( just to boost the ratings). But, it could have been done for less money.

"I may not be the hero of this story, but at least I can see how it ends"

[doug_park2001 · 7/10 · 12 August 2013]

JACK the GIANT SLAYER is a nice flight of the imagination, exercise in fairly mindless (though not stupid)entertainment. The film has a Disney-like flavor, and though it makes only a half-hearted attempt to convey the medieval setting, the cinematography is very fine. Good performances by Hoult, Tomlinson, and McGregor.

The story may be missing a piece or two, and the modern day ending is a bit tacked-on. There's an interesting mythos here, but its underdevelopment is a little dissatisfying. Nevertheless, it's clear from the beginning that this is not a film to take too seriously: Simply fun to watch for children of all ages.

Fee Fi Ho Hum

[lotekguy-1 · 4/10 · 28 February 2013]

Here's yet another fairy tale stretched into a somewhat more adult action-adventure flick following what Hollywood has done lately to Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Hansel & Gretel, and perhaps a couple of others. These stem from a couple of irresistible temptations - the ease of creating fanciful worlds and creatures with today's computer graphics, and the perceived box-office advantage of offering something based on the familiar. The latter also explains the proliferation of sequels in horror, action, sci-fi, animation and comedies. The former unfortunately has led to spending too much of the budget on the sizzle, at the expense of the steak...meaning the script.

So we get a rather tedious tale of intrepid Jack (Nicholas Hoult, who looks like Richard Thomas' John Boy in the early years of The Waltons) and a spunky princess (Eleanor Tomlinson, who looks like every post-feminist, not-just-pretty-but-smart-and-brave heiress to a mythical throne) climbing that beanstalk to encounter a whole ragtag army of nasty giants who ravaged the earthlings below many generations ago, who've been seething about their prison-in-the-sky existence ever since. Don't even try to make sense of the premise. The producers didn't.

Admittedly, the f/x make for some exciting moments, including a spectacular climactic battle. If you're curious enough to attend, look for the biggest 3-D screen within range, because you'll likely need to maximize the visual adrenalin stimuli to stay engaged.

If these revisionist sagas continue to be profitable, how long will it be before Mother Hubbard's poor doggie goes all Cujo for want of a bone, or Little Miss Muffet replaces John Goodman's hilarious exterminator in a retooled remake of Arachnophobia?