"Jack the Giant Slayer" Review

Like the giants themselves, BEWARE! (of SPOILERS)

Fee, fi, fo, fum! I smell the shi- I mean, blood, of a studio executive!

In the latest of Hollywood's string of mediocre folk tale re-imaginings, Bryan Singer's Jack the Giant Slayer attempts to take "Jack and the Beanstalk" to (pardon the pun) new heights. We all grew up with the story of a young farmhand who goes to town and sells his cow in exchange for magic beans that, in turn, produce a thousand-foot beanstalk that leads to a world inhabited by giants. That's all present in Jack the Giant Slayer. But the addition of some character development, a dangerous love interest, colorful supporting characters, and the re-igniting of an ancient war between giants and men provide the ground for which Singer and company ask us to "forget everything we know about the fairy tale".

That's all well and good, and Jack the Giant Slayer is probably the best of these edgy folk tales Hollywood keeps shoveling into theaters, the last of which being Paramount's Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, but that isn't really saying much. Enthusiastic acting performances and some edge-of-your-seat action manage to perch Jack above the likes of his recent cinematic contemporaries, but that doesn't prove to be enough to save the film from inconsistencies in tone, as well as special effects that are literally larger-than-life.

Singer (The Usual Suspects, X-Men) manages to wring fine performances from everyone in his cast. The talent is everywhere, and they make Jack the Giant Slayer a blast to watch. Nicholas Hoult (Warm Bodies) is spot-on as the titular hero who, most impressively, makes us believe and even root for him as a "giant slayer". Eleanor Tomlinson (Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging) is fun as the beautiful Princess Isabelle. She never seems helpless in the face of danger, and turns our hero into the brave, upstanding young man that he is. Without her, Jack would be a weaker character. Ewan McGregor (Moulin Rouge, Star Wars I-III) increasingly earned my trust as the royal knight Elmont, just as Jack increasingly earned his. Throw in a dastardly turn from Stanley Tucci as the evil Lord Roderick, and you've got quite a colorful cast. I was also pleasantly surprised by the intensity of some of Jack's action scenes. The violent growth of the beanstalk, a daring kitchen escape, and an epic citadel siege kept me on the edge of my seat.

However, I found fault with the way Jack the Giant Slayer carried itself in terms of tone. It seemed at times like the film might be taking a Princess Bride approach and acting more as a parody of its source material. Other moments had me thinking along the lines of a Lord of the Rings-type adventure. Rather than leaning one way or the other, Singer tries to split the gap and doesn't quite make it. I didn't know whether to laugh or cling to my armrests the entire time, so the end product ended up leaving a ho-hum taste in my mouth.
In addition to the miscues in tone, I can't talk about Jack the Giant Slayer without mentioning its larger-than-life special effects. The locations were awe-inspiring, but the giants came off appearing cheesy and cartoonish with physical features that look like they were inspired by burnt pizza crust. With today's advances in 3-D effects technology, I have a hard time believing this is the best look the artists could come up with. I would've rather seen more vivid, human-looking giants than these crispy-looking atrocities.

On the whole, Bryan Singer's edgy Jack the Giant Slayer climbs to new heights with colorful acting performances and surprising, action-packed intensity but takes a major tumble with tonal inconsistencies and cheesy special effects. The end product just feels middle-of-the-stalk.

2.5 OF 4 STARS