Jack the Giant Slayer
(2012)Prepare for a giant adventure.
Bryan Singer (X-Men, The Usual Suspects) adapts the Jack and the Beanstalk fairytale. Nicholas Hoult (About a Boy) stars as the young farmer who leads a gang (including Ewan McGregor) against a kingdom of giants in order to rescue a kidnapped princess.... More
An ancient war is reignited when Jack, a simple farmer, unwittingly opens a gateway (via a giant beanstalk) between his world and a fearsome race of giants. Unleashed on Earth for the first time in centuries, the giants strive to reclaim the land they once lost, forcing Jack into the battle. Fighting for a kingdom, its people, and the love of a brave princess, he comes face to face with the unstoppable warriors he thought only existed in legend.Hide
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Directed by Bryan Singer
Starring Nicholas Hoult, Ewan McGregor, Ian McShane, Stanley Tucci, Bill Nighy, Warwick Davis, Eddie Marsan, Ewen Bremner
Written by Mark Bomback, Darren Lemke, Dan Studney
Flicks Review
BY Dominic Corry Flicks Writer
It's difficult for blockbuster films to shake the stink of failure suggested by a long delay. Jack The Giant Slayer was originally slated for a mid-2012 release, and it finally arrives after a couple of underwhelming trailers. Extremely low expectations rendered this film slightly more watchable than the chore I anticipated, but even a generous assessment must acknowledge the unfulfilled potential and flat design.... More
There's a fatal lack of creativity to the set-pieces here that I really hope doesn't show up in Pacific Rim. In relative terms, the giants are poorly executed CGI creatures - their faces look stupid and they fail as interesting villains. The toothless intentions of the film suggested by its title changing from "Jack The Giant Killer" to "Jack The Giant Slayer" are embodied on screen by the film cutting away every time a human is about to be munched by a giant. Even Jurassic Park let us see the lawyer get eaten.
Ewan McGregor is fun as a honorable soldier and the great Eddie Marsan livens things up whenever he's on screen. But pretty lead Nicholas Hoult isn't given much to work with, and I was never invested in his love story. Jack The Giant Slayer isn't a complete and total turkey, but fairy tale reboot fatigue isn't doing it any favours.
Warning: the opening scene features two former Shortland St actors.Hide
The Peoples' Reviews
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Jack the Giant Slayer
BY Coraliee superstar
Lost interest half way through, went off for 20minutes to get the washing in off the clothesline and didn't seem to miss much, because it was predictable throughout.
It seemed very long - but then that was probably because I had become a little bored.
Wouldn't recommend it or watch again.
BY Ian_Anderson lister
Stealing to get rich has been replaced by a more heroic lets-rescue-the-princess theme, which removes the dubious morality of making a hero out of a recidivist thief. Though I can't see an obvious reason why the script writer replaced Jack's mother with an uncle, nor why there are no female giants in the film.
The film seems... More to have relatively modest aims of entertaining kids, parents and others with a familiar, but sanitised, fairy tale augmented with other familiar themes and populated with characters that are easy to understand. Seen in that light I think Jack the Giant Slayer is entertaining, well paced and acted without being spectacular, challenging or memorable.Hide
The Press Reviews
52%
of critics recommend.
Rotten Tomatoes Score. More reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
It's a bloodless, gutless piece of PG-13 fodder, geared to go down easy. That it does. It practically evaporates while you're watching it, lulling when you most want it to levitate. Full Review
So many blockbuster movies are impersonal, micromanaged hashes that Jack, with its bare minimum of craft and commitment, comparatively comes off like a diamond in the rough. Full Review
Not one for cynics or bedwetters, if you’re after a ripping, roaring, thigh-slapping giant of a fairytale, Bryan Singer’s blockbuster panto will be right up your beanstalk. Full Review
Jack the Giant Slayer feels, unsurprisingly, like an attempt to cash in on a trend, recycling storybook characters, situations and battle sequences to mechanical and wearyingly predictable effect. Full Review
Spends a great deal of its focus on fights that stretch out to Lord Of The Rings length, but without LOTR-level effects or panache. Full Review
Singer’s tall tale is snatched from disaster by an all-hell-breaks-loose third act. Full Review
Fee-fi-fo-fum, this fairy-tale retread is pretty dumb. Full Review
There may never have been a Jack tale that delivered so little pleasure for so many dollars as what we have here. Full Review
Just a digitally souped-up, one-dimensional take on "Jack and the Beanstalk," capped by the kind of interminable blowout that makes many big-studio entertainments feel as long as the last Oscars. Full Review
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