Film Review: Jack the Giant Slayer

Bryan Singer, director of the X Men films (most of them), directs this thrill a millisecond ride to perfection.

Millisecond may be overstating things, but considering this film has giants as the bad guys, with the incomparable Bill Nighy as their two headed leader, well - overstated turns to understated, very quickly. Stanley Tucci and the rest of the cast are quite excellent too.

Nicholas Hoult, known for Wah Wah, Warm Bodies, X Men Origins (and soon the sequel) portrays the archetype Jack, here a farm boy with his head in the clouds, who soon is swept up into them - literally, when some beans, water and a Princess (Eleanor Tomlinson) come into his life. The plot line kind of has a Shanghai Noon vibe to it, which is interesting.

He joins the King's (Ian McShane) men on a mission to rescue her, which includes Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner and Eddie Marsan.

With some spectacular special effects, giant bean stalks are climbed on and the giants' world is something else to look at too. There are battles too, big and small, and despite the premise, its believable.

One of this film's main strengths, is the comedy. For every piece of CGI trickery, is a one liner or gag to keep the film going and an absolute joy to watch.
Its clever too, which makes the ending something really special.

Comments

  1. Film & TV Commentator7 April 2014 at 02:22

    This quote comes from another film similar in tone to this one - adventure with comedy. Or maybe that is the other way round?

    “Gallaxhar: Humans of Earth, I come in peace. You need not fear me, I mean you no harm. However, it is important to note that most of you will not survive the next 24 hours. The few of you that do survive will be enslaved and experimented upon. You should, in no way, take any of this personally. Its just business. So to recap, I come in peace, I mean you no harm, and you all will die. Gallaxhar out.”

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