Jack the Giant Slayer (2013) Review

It’s not bad, it’s good but nothing more and if that’s okay with you then yeah it’s a fun movie to watch and the kids will love it. The story is alright as well as the cast and dialogue, some moments even made me laugh on purpose. The visuals are good and I had fun with it. My only problems come with Bryan Singer and his relentless path to making good films but nothing more and am not sure if it’s because he isn’t a great director or he’s just unlucky but not one of his films has ever blew me away, there just alright. Oh crap he’s going to do the same to days of futures past.

“I may not be the hero of this story, but at least I get to see the end of it!”

Plot:

“Jack the Giant Slayer” tells the story of an ancient war that is reignited when a young farmhand unwittingly opens a gateway between our world and a fearsome race of giants. Unleashed on the Earth for the first time in centuries, the giants strive to reclaim the land they once lost, forcing the young man, Jack (Nicholas Hoult) into the battle of his life to stop them. Fighting for a kingdom, its people, and the love of a brave princess, he comes face to face with the unstoppable warriors he thought only existed in legend-and gets the chance to become a legend himself.

Tim’s Film Reviews Recommended

Story: 60% Acting: 70% Characters: 65% Dialogue: 60%

Fantasy/Action: 70% Style/Sound: 65% Visuals: 80%

Total: 67%

The story was alright, had some fun with the new twist on the old tale but nothing really new, fun enough though. The acting was good and I liked some of the characters but it was all really forgettable. I did like Ewan McGregor and his character was my favourite part of the film, funny, heroic, and fits in really well with the ludicrous style of the film which I actually liked. Did anyone else go crazy and hear Davy Jones? Oh that was Bill Nighy doing the same voice as in Pirates of the Caribbean, didn’t know Giants did piracy in their spare time.

Since it’s a fairy-tale adaptation I would expect a more serious tone but pleasantly they went in a different direction and the lighter more make fun way of telling the story worked for me and I thought it was funny. Let’s face it a serious Jack and the bean stalk film wouldn’t really work and you wouldn’t believe it for a minute. However I do have to point out how retarded the studio was for giving this film a $200M budget, never seeing that again.

The visuals where good, weird but good and whilst I thought there was CGI overload everywhere nothing was bad or unwatchable. The giants looked good enough but being 100% CGI meant it had limitations especially on such a large scale. The stalk was good and the fantasy lands where great and so was the costumes as outlandish as they were.

Trailer:

The best reviews I found would be these “A story of daring do and social climbing, serving as an excuse for colossal battles with a load more orcs, the true purpose of the movie.” David Sexton. “Watchable in a ridiculous way, and director Bryan Singer supplies quite a bit of entertainment bang for your buck” Peter Bradshaw. “An honest swashbuckling romp with appealing pantomime overtones, and one of the better fairy tale films to date” Robbie Collin. “Set somewhere between heaven and earth, Singer’s slick but safe adventure occupies the middle ground of family matinee entertainment.” Anton Bitel.

My favourite scene would have to be I don’t the siege at the castle maybe, love a good siege and adding giants to the mix doesn’t hurt. Not much else really but its good overall. No wait anything with Ewan McGregor, he was really funny in this film.

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