Guest Movie Review by Generbeener: Jack the Giant Slayer (2.5 out of 5)
Jack the Giant Slayer OR Jack the Giant Disappointment? If
you’ve seen the previews for Jack the Giant Slayer, you may be feeling like I
did this past Monday, sitting in a dark theatre with a group of friends,
eagerly awaiting the viewing of what would be a spectacular retelling of a well
known fairy tale: Jack and the Beanstalk.
Two hours later I’m wondering when it’s going to end, find out why after the break.....
In Jack the Giant Slayer we meet
Jack (the son of a poor farmer) and Isabelle (princess of the kingdom) as young
children being read the story of the Giants and King Eric the Great who
banished them back to their world far above the land of humans, by using a
special crown made from the melted down heart of a giant (the giants must obey
whoever wears the crown). Fast forward ten years and Jack (Nicholas Hoult) is
now the farm hand on his uncle’s farm and Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson) is a
precocious and hardheaded young lady.
As funds on the farm dwindle, Jack
is sent into the city to sell his uncle’s horse and cart. There he meets the
princess, who has snuck out of the castle in disguise. As Jack defends her
honor against a gang of roughiens, Isabelle is swept back to the castle by
Elmont (Ewan McGregor), the leader of the King’s Guardians. Embarrassed and
frustrated, Jack continues to wonder the streets trying to sell his goods, when
a monk asks to buy the horse. Jack agrees but the monk says he doesn’t have any
money on him and he gives Jack a small bag of beans as collateral. Before Jack
can refuse the monk jumps on the horse, rides away, and Jack must return home
empty handed except for a few beans.
Isabelle meanwhile has had a row
with her father about all the usual things young girls argue with their fathers
over: independence, power our their own lives, and the right to marry whomever
they want. As Isabelle storms out of the thrown room, she makes plans to leave
the castle for a real adventure. After just a few hours into that adventure
however, Isabelle is stranded in a horrible thunderstorm and seeks shelter in
Jack’s meager hut. As he and Isabelle flirt and banter, a single bean (which
accidentally fell through the loose floor boards) begins to sprout and before
they know it the hut is being hoisted into the air on a massive stalk. Isabelle
becomes stuck in the hut when Jack gets thrown out a window by a stray stalk.
As he falls to the ground, he watches the small building rise higher and higher
into the stormy sky.
The next morning Jack wakes up to
the faces of the king, Elmont, and several other guardians looking down at him.
After explaining what happened, Jack volunteers to be part of the rescue team
and he, Elmont, Roderick (adviser to the king and betrothed to Isabelle), Wicke
(Roderick’s wicked side kick), and several of the kings best men begin a
perilous journey up the beanstalk to rescue the princess. Once the small band
of men reach the top (after overcoming the fear of heights, enduring a rain
storm, and losing a few good men) Jack, Elmont, and Roderick split up. Just as we think Roderick is about to be
captured, he pulls out the crown King Eric the Great used to banish the giants
originally. With Roderick in control of the giants, Jack, with the help of
Elmont and Isabelle, must fight to save the kingdom.
I must say, this movie left me
quite disappointed. From the previews, Jack the Giant Slayer looked to be an
interesting readaptation of the old story, but it only takes a few minutes to
figure out this movie is just your average fairytale story (nothing epic about
it). The first thing that got to me was a Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-esk
animation retailing of the story of King Eric and the first giant war. The
animation style is semi-realistic and it leaves the viewer asking, did they do
that or purpose or was it just a really bad animation job?
Speaking of Harry Potter, whether on
purpose or not, the writers and director (Bryan Singer) throw in random movie
allusions through out the whole movie. For example, when the small group of men
reaches the top of the beanstalk and begins exploring, Elmont is heard saying,
“I’ve got a very bad feeling about this,” which is, of course, a very quoted
Star Wars reference (plus Ewan McGregor played Obi One Kinobi in the Start Wars
prequels). There are also references to The Lord of the Rings, Freddy Krueger,
and a few other films. There are even musical allusions to Star Wars, Lord of
the Rings, and Jurassic Park (and those are just the ones that I could
recognize).
The acting in Jack the Giant Slayer
is not horrible, but it also is not the best either. After a wonderful and
thoroughly enjoyable acting experience in Warm
Bodies, Nicholas Hoult turns out a thoroughly disappointing performance as
Jack. His deadpan face and boyish looks make him out as a mild hero the
audience is begging to step up! Even in the victorious scene where Jack walks
out of the destroyed palace, with the crown on his head, to concur the giants,
his body and mannerisms still reflect the meek farm boy he was and not the hero
that has grown through his journey into the strong man who is to rule the
people with justice and grace.
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| Notice how he always has the same deadpan face! |
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| Same ole Nick, whether he is a Zombie of a Giant Slayer
Besides the beginning animation, the visual
effects in this film are definitely worth mentioning. The special effects of
the giants are delightful, with beautiful expression and attention to detail
the viewer is willing to accept the amount of unbelievability. The beanstalk is
a beautiful design of nature and geometry, reminiscent of Avatar’s Hometree. But most impressive is the cloudscapes and
landscapes we see as the adventures are traveling either up or down the
beanstalk.
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| Notice How General Fallon leader of the Giants looks a a lot like John Locke (Terry O' Quinn ) from Lost |
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| Or does John Locke look like General Fallon?
The biggest issue with this movie
is the fact that it tried to do too many things in one medium length film.
There were too many main characters followed to allow any of them to fully
develop into anything extraordinary. Isabelle could have been used as a
wonderful statement of female authority and power (her future as queen was
hinted at multiple times) but instead became a background character by the end
of the film. She never had the chance to blossom into a strong role in the
story.
Jack never grew into the shoes his
character was supposed to wear either. Sure he becomes ruler over the giants
and saves the day, but his personality remains the mild farm boy that he was in
the beginning of the film, without the moral of the story being, stay true to
who you are. This remaining “as is” would have worked if that had been the
moral. His character should have been the biggest one to change.
Ewan, however, steals the show with
his wit, rugged good looks, and fabulously quaffed hair! Elmont is the main
humor character. He has several truly funny lines and has a wonderfully
delightful fight scene with Roderick!
When he isn't slaying Giants, Ewan Mcgregor Always Slays the ladies!
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Finally, the biggest disappointment
is that fact that this movie is just not sure what it wants to be. At times it
is a serious drama, at others it is a tongue in cheek comedy, and others a
sappy romance. With no coherence of focus, style, or character the audience is
left with a sense of confusion. Sure we understand what happened, but we don’t
really understand why it happened the way it did. Over all this film is
enjoyable to watch, and I would watch it again, but please don’t pay full
price! This is one of those films where you wait for it to come to a Redbox near
you and spend a lazy Saturday afternoon watching it.
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| In the end true Love always finds a way! |
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