JACK THE GIANT SLAYER

BY CHRISTOPHER HASKELL
MARCH 13, 2013

Not nearly as bad as I expected it to be, “Jack The Giant Slayer” creates a fantasy world with kings and peasants, giants and magic beans, a fairy tale that I would never have imagined could translate to film. Even though this is PG-13, the film’s darkness is almost too much for adults and children. I suspect many parents had the “death” talk following this film.

Nicholas Hoult holds his own as the film’s protagonist, Jack, playing opposite the lovely Eleanor Tomlinson, who proves she deserves more work in Hollywood than she’s getting. What had me most worried walking into the film was the caricature performances coming from Ian McShane and Stanley Tucci. Still, both hold their own quite steadily, helped mainly by the adult nature of the story at times, especially in battle. Ewan McGregor also proved me wrong, capturing the spotlight quite nicely whenever he was involved and becoming one of the film’s best parts.

Getting invested in CGI-driven films can be challenging if the material is weak. Still, with continued great voice acting from Bill Nighy (bringing back the villainous voice of Davey Jones from “Pirates of the Caribbean”), the film is helped immensely. However, with the plot progression becoming a giant game of king of the mountain that is more build-up than epic conclusion (a massive round of tug-O-war), “Jack the Giant Slayer” would have been one of my favorites if I were ten years younger. In the grand scheme of film-making, it is a sub-par, CGI-heavy venture with little payoff.