Jack the Giant Sigh

Review: Jack the Giant Slayer

Remakes, Reboots, Prequels, Sequels, Spin-Offs, and Rehashes. They're what keep Hollywood up and running, providing an endless supply of material for new films. Which is amazing considering how many thousands of movies are made every year. How many are actually original? Well, if you talk to most literary people, they'll inform you of the widespread belief that there are really only seven stories in existence and therefore everything is really a copy of something else, or a combination of old ideas. Some even go so far as to say all stories share a singular, fundamental structure: the monomyth.

The more you think about it, the more it seems to make sense. And its getting more and more obvious. Within a three-month period this year, audiences will see not one, but two movies about the White House being invaded and the Secret Service fighting to save the President (Olympus Has Fallen, White House Down). Currently The Bible is proving to be a huge hit for The History Channel, while there is an upcoming Noah movie and a rumored Moses film.

There seems to have been a sharp increase in the number of "fresh" takes on classic fairy tales as of late too. Consider the recent movies Alice in Wonderland, Hansel and Gretel, Mirror Mirror, Red Riding Hood, and Snow White and the Huntsman and television shows Grimm and Once Upon a Time. And the trend shows no signs of slowing with the upcoming films Maleficent, Cinderella, and Pinocchio.

What is unfortunate is none of these fairy tale films have really been all that great. If you want to go by pure box office numbers, Snow White and the Huntsman actually did pretty well, at least well enough to warrant a sequel currently being worked on, but there still weren't all that many critics or people I talked to who actually really liked it all that much.

So where does Jack the Giant Slayer fall in all this mess? Sadly, squarely in the middle. Which is at least better than being the worst of the worst I suppose. It's a lighthearted romp up the beanstalk, but one that fails to create any personality for its lead characters and is suffocated with an egregious amount of CGI.

Let's break it down...

The Director: Bryan Singer has proven himself capable of critically acclaimed hits and blockbuster smashes (The Usual Suspects, X-Men, X2), but also universally panned attempts (Superman Returns). Jack falls closer to the latter than the former and could have benefited from a more critical eye from its director. This is no more true than in the excessive use of CGI which distracted from the film and were so plentiful that everything looked fake. That being said, the story is one Singer clearly finds to be immense fun and he films it with such enthusiasm. The action is exciting and keeps you, if not on the edge of your seat, at least from falling asleep.

The Story: It was an ingenious move, I feel, that the filmmakers decided to explore the earlier stories of Jack the Giant Killer, rather than rehash the more well known iteration of Jack and the Beanstalk, giving them more of an opportunity to tell an origin story. And its conclusion was a clever tip of the hat to the modern real world. But the in between bits were what struggled, creating a more than typical save-the-princess story and failing to find any time to develop the main protagonists, despite constructing some very fun side characters.

And if the main characters weren't developed, you can forget about the giants, who despite being an integral part of the story, are as static and flat individuals as you can imagine. A much better story would have made the giants multidimensional, perhaps even showing a sympathetic side to their story to create some internal conflict for the audience. But nope, we're supposed to hate them through and through. Nevermind that humans essentially invade their homes, steal their stuff, and even at times enslave them. But its okay, every one of them is 100% evil. This is undeveloped storytelling at its finest.

The Characters: For what they're given, Nicholas Hoult (Warm Bodies) as Jack and Eleanor Tomlinson (The Illusionist) as the princess do well enough, even though I'm still not sold on Hoult as a leading man. The real stars here are Ewan McGregor (The Impossible) and Stanley Tucci (The Hunger Games), who each create a character who is so much fun and reminded me of the roles we all love in The Princess Bride.

Well there you have it. I'm sure I could find more to go on about, but you're probably ready for me to shut up and besides, I'm off to go watch Oz the Great and Powerful (another rehash of old material!). I'll let you know if its any good! But for Jack the Giant Slayer...

The Final Word: Wait to rent it.