About The Movie:
When Jack, a young farmhand,
accidentally opens a gateway to the world of Giants an ancient war restarts as
the giants, thought only of as legend, try to reclaim the world they lost
centuries ago. Jack is forced into a fight to not only save his own life, but
that of those in the kingdom and that of the princess.
What Is Good/Bad About The Movie:
When the beanstalk erupts, and Jack
(dewy and engaging Nicholas Hoult) joins a rescue party to rescue the pretty
princess (Eleanor Tomlinson) who's trapped atop it, director Bryan Singer can't
quite wrap his arms around this wily revisionist fairy tale. Only when those
titular giants emerge, do Jack the movie and Jack the person seem to find their
purpose, spinning a children's film with surprising violence and even more
goofy humor, a fairly standard-issue fantasy with just enough sparks of wit
that show someone cared enough to make it better.
That's not necessarily what I'd hoped
for from this movie. Though Jack works with some excellent moments of tension--
like when Jack and his princess love are on the verge of being cooked into a
giant pie. A movie that gets good only after 45 minutes is a tough sit, but
Jack only manages to become OK.
Jack isn't as chaotic as Clash of the
Titans and not nearly as self-serious as John Carter, which at least puts it
ahead of some of its fellow early-spring fantasy competition. And its bright
spots are often remarkable, like the swashbuckling Errol Flynn-style
performance from Ewan MacGregor as the head of the rescue party, or Stanley
Tucci as the princess's sniveling intended, with his own secret plans for how
to rule the kingdom. When the rescue party begins the men-- of course they're
all men-- are an unruly gaggle of about a dozen, and only after about half of
them literally fall off the beanstalk is it possible to figure out group
dynamics (Eddie Marsan is in there somewhere, but has a hard time breaking out
of the pack). And though it's hard to to sense the love connection between Jack
and Princess Isabelle that sends him clambering up that beanstalk, once they're
reunited they have a nice thing going on. It's a shame the adventuresome princess
barely gets to be a part of the actual action, but with so much else going on
in the plot, it's almost a relief to have one less story to deal with.
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