Jack the Giant Slayer

Jack The Giant Slayer (2013) directed by Bryan Singer

I wasn't expecting all that from this one since metacritic only rated it 51, but the effects were good, the 3D put to good use, and the giants were pretty great looking, even if they made me feel like I was watching a video game.

The story was NOT that great though.  Typical hero boringness - boy meets princess and has to rescue her and earn her love through trial and fire.  yadayadayada.  Jack, (Nicholas Hoult who was great in Warm Bodies), Ewan Mcgregor as Elmont, a do gooder knight, and Eleanor Tomlinson as the Princess Isabelle, were all blandness.  As a whole, it was all very fairy tale normal and aside from the vivid scenery and special effects, not spectacular at all.  Serviceable entertainment and not much more. It was such a missed opportunity, because the giants were great,  or rather they had the potential to BE great...but their characterisation was lacking.  They weren't very well developed so they lacked personality and their menace was ultimately wasted.

I thought it was a real shame they didn't delve more into the giant's mythos and world.

For me the best scene and one of the biggest missed opportunities, was when the giants gain their freedom.  It could have been something special,  a Martin Luther King moment of speechifying on freedom, equality, and respect, with the giants and humans coming to an understanding, and living in peace....but naw, this is a hollywood blockbuster wannabe, so all that freedom meant, was the giants were free to make war.


Another moment I got excited and then let down by the plot,  was when the giants got some of those magic beans and the stalks were growing up to the sky...I thought cool! They're going up to the next level!  I did not expect that... are they going to battle God?  Heaven? What is gonna be up there?  But, no, got plunged back to plebian predictable plot lines as the giants clambered down the vines to battle man.


Like I said, the giants even as underwritten as they were, were still the best part.  I liked how the 2nd in command giant Fumm (voiced by Brian Daniels) resembled the 2nd in command to Ewan Mcgregor - the criminally underused Eddie Marsan.

There was a moment when I thought Fumm was going to claim the crown from Fallon, the two headed giant, (voiced by the always awesome Bill Nighy), who had seemingly perished in the moat, but nope, when Fumm said "Get the hooks",  it was to get in the castle, not go crown fishing.  I guess Fumm wasn't ambitious.  Bill Nighy was pretty great in his limited role, did what he could with the material, but like I said, there just wasn't much there for him to work with.

I was surprised how short Ian Mcshane was as the king - he reminded me of the king in Shrek.  Little wee royal man, and the bad guy, Roderick (hammed up by Stanley Tucci) reminded me of Sascha Baron Cohen, probably because yeah, they look a little alike, but mostly because Cohen loves to chew scenery too. Ewen Bremner was pretty over the top too in his sidekick villain role.  He looked like Ichabod Crane to me.

Only worth it in 3D and not at full price.  I saw it on cheap night so I feel like I got my money's worth.