Review - Jack The Giant Slayer

At The Theater - "Jack The Giant Slayer" - Director Bryan Singer's (The Usual Suspects, X-Men, X2, Superman Returns) Action/Adventure retelling of the English fairy tale, "Jack and the Beanstalk" is an uninspired but passable diversion that may have been better served in an expanded form and released as a Television mini-series. The cast is good (though underdeveloped across the board), the cinematography is commendable and the production values in regards to it's various set pieces are solid, yet this larger budgeted spectacle film manages to misfire on it's selling point- the Giants.  Discerning adult audiences will recognize a half-hearted, almost cartoonish effort with the special effects- the large-scaled creatures are decidedly flat and poorly rendered, thus undermining any real tension.

Warner Bros. displayed a lack of faith in the final product by delaying it's original release date by a full 9 months- a tactic which is rare given it's scope and budget ($195 Million) that also usually indicates poor "insider" reception.  The film is tonally uneven, featuring some corny dialogue and a wealth of sophomoric humor (See giants fart, pick their nose and eat boogers!), but yet too violent and frightening for younger viewers. I'm still not sure which target audience the filmmakers were aiming for.

My chief complaint would rest with the forgettable creature design and lackluster performance capture visual effects work involving the giants- they're ugly but never menacing, featuring some second-rate cgi that a host of currently popular PS3 and XBOX games would put to shame. I felt there were only a couple of fleeting closeups of the giant's faces that were marginally impressive, with the vast majority of the FX shots being disappointingly mundane.  I kept wishing that the producers had approached the rendering and scale work in a more practical manner, with makeup-heavy creature feature artists such as Rick Baker or Greg Nicotero on the job and utilizing shots like those featured in the "Lord Of The Rings" films where a towering Gandalf stood amongst the various, vertically challenged Hobbits.

Rising star Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: First Class) plays the film's titular hero, "Jack", a poor, but good-hearted farmboy in a bad situation who can't help but dream of a better life.   Jack's trip to the local market to sell a horse nets him those notorious magic beans that unleashes all the over-sized mayhem.  Audiences should get used to hearing the young actor's name over the next few years as he's sure to be considered for all sorts of higher profile roles in the future- he starred in early 2013's Horror/Comedy, "Warm Bodies", and will be featured in "Mad Max: Fury Road" and "X-Men: Days of Future Past" in 2014.  Although Hoult's shown in previous works that he's talented and has a bit of presence, he isn't really allowed to do anything special here- that's more of a knock against the script than anything else.

Eleanor Tomlinson  (Alice In Wonderland)  portrays "Princess Isabelle", an adventurous sort desperate to break from her father's stringent sense of nobility and tradition while presenting a potential love interest for Jack.  Tomlinson is solid, though I can't help but feel she may get lost in the shuffle because of how similar she looks to a number of other young actresses popping up across the field.

Ian McShane (HBO's Deadwood) is serviceable as "King Brahmwell" (Isabelle's Father), while Ewan McGregor (Beginners) is the honorable Knight, "Elmont".  McGregor gives a commendable effort in a supportive role, though I must admit it was a bit frustrating to see him take a backseat in this film. Eddie Marsan  (Sherlock Holmes) is wasted as Elmont's friend and brother-in-arms,"Crawe", in perhaps the most underwritten role of the film.

Stanley Tucci's (The Devil Wears Prada) villainous turn as "Roderick", the King's adviser, might be the most memorable part in the picture.  He's a scoundrel looking to command the army of giants and thus wrestle power from the King via an enchanted crown. Character actor Ewan Bremner (Trainspotting) plays "Roderick's" right hand cohort,  "Wicke", looking very much like what I would guess a vulture in a bad wig would look like...

The film features the vocal talents of Bill Nighy (Wild Target) as the "main head" of the two-headed, lead giant, "General Fallon", while John Kassir (the voice of the "Crypt Keeper" in Tales From The Crypt) supplies the grunts, squawks and cackles of the smaller, "mutant head"-  yeah, it was a shaky idea that should have been nixed before filming.  Rounding out the notable cast, Warwick Davis (Willow) pops up in a disposable cameo.

"Jack The Giant Slayer" isn't particularly boring nor outright stupid, though I did feel that it never really caught fire.  Even a climactic humans vs. giants showdown isn't what it could have/should have been.  The film seems a bit short (at 114 minutes) given it's epic scale and there are a few strange edits sprinkled about, which further hints at studio tinkering.  Expect a handful of references to other classic fairy tales and subsequent loose ends that appear by design- it's obvious that some of them were left as such to lead into possible sequels (which will now never happen given this film's poor box office).  If you must see it at the theater, skip it in 3D- it's a post-convert that really isn't worth the extra cost.

6.0 out of 10