Variety
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.
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Jack the Giant Slayer
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.
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.
Less2013Rating: M, contains fantasy violence114 minsUSA
AdventureFantasy
- Director:
- Bryan Singer ('Superman Returns', 'Valkyrie', 'X-men', 'X2', 'The Usual Suspects')
- Writer:
- Mark BombackDarren LemkeDan Studney
- Cast:
- Nicholas HoultEwan McGregorIan McShaneStanley TucciBill NighyWarwick DavisEddie MarsanEwen Bremner
Jack the Giant Slayer | Reviews
52%208 reviewsRotten Tomatoes® Score
All reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Total Film
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.
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Time Out
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.
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The New York Times
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.
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Rolling Stone
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.
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Los Angeles Times
There may never have been a Jack tale that delivered so little pleasure for so many dollars as what we have here.
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Empire Magazine
Singer’s tall tale is snatched from disaster by an all-hell-breaks-loose third act.
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A.V. Club
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 reviewJack the Giant Slayer | Trailers
Jack the Giant Slayer | Release Details
Jack the Giant Slayer is available to stream in New Zealand now on Google Play and Apple TV.