Movie Title
Jack the Giant Slayer
Year
2013
Genre
Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A brand new take on the classic fairy tale of Jack and the Beanstalk, only this time, we have Bryan Singer (of the 1st 2 X-Men movies) at the helm.
The movie starts with 2 children being told an ancient story of a great conflict between Man & Giant and how Man finally managed to defeat the giants. Thus, bringing peace to the lands.
Over the years, the story had become a myth, with no one, except little children, believing in the existence of giants or the threat they pose. One of them was Jack (Nicholas Hoult from X-Men: First Class - Beast & a more recent movie Warm Bodies), a peasant farmer's son. The other was the Princess Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson, last seen in 2010's Alice in Wonderland).
They both grow up to adulthood where as fate would have it, they meet and henceforth, their lives were inextricably intertwined.
Due to the evil machinations (aren't they always) of Roderick (Stanley Tucci last seen in Hunger Games 2012) who was to be betrothed to the free-spirited Princess Isabelle, the magic beans and the artifact that was used to defeat the giants resurface. And as we all know from the fairy tale, Jack was instrumental, albeit unintentionally, in activating the Giant Beanstalk that leads to the long forgotten kingdom of giants up in the sky, resulting in the princess being trapped there.
The King immediately sends his bravest knights, led by Elmont (Ewan McGregor) along with Roderick, whose evil agenda was as yet hidden from the king, to rescue the Princess.Jack joins the rescue mission in the hopes of winning the Princess' heart and redeem himself, as he had "caused" this catastrophe.
At the end of the movie, there is kind of an "explanation" as to why we have heard so many versions of essentially the same story, which is a nice touch.
Well, I did find Ewan McGregor a little odd in this movie because I couldn't decide whether to take him seriously as the best warrior of the kingdom - Elmont, or as the comedian of the show because he constantly has an Errol Flynn-esque (see V for Vendetta's mask...) smirk of bravado on his face!
Hoult on the other hand, would easily win the hearts of young females. However, I found his performance to be rather stiff and awkward. Not sure if he was trying to convey his sense of low esteem in the presence of the Princess or false bravado in the face of nigh-impossible odds.
Overall
Fee-Fye-Foe-Fumm! We always thought they were gibberish mumbled by the dumb giants. Now we know they are the names of 4 giant warriors!
I quite enjoyed this movie because deep down, I'm still a kid at heart and I have a soft spot for fairy tales. ;)
Now, be honest, who isn't a kid at heart? C'mon!
There are some who think that the CGI for the giants are too unrealistic but I believe that they were intentionally designed & meant to look like that to convey a sense of surrealism or a hint of fantasy visually.
Have fun when you go watch this movie. After all, it's supposed to be a fairy tale.
Rating: 6.5/10
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