Stars Nicholas Hoult, Eleanor Tomlinson, Stanley Tucci, Eddie Marsen with Ian McShane, Ewan Bremner, Bill Nighy, Warwick Davis and Ewan McGregor Directed by Bryan SInger The sense of fun this movie projected came right at the very beginning with the company logos, particularly director Bryan SInger's company logo for Bad Hat Harry Productions. Modelled after the iconic line-up of The Usual Suspects, instead of the human criminals, we had the silhouettes of the giants taking the line-up. Left over (or delayed) from last year when adaptations of classic fairy tales were running rampant - Mirror, Mirror, Snow White and The Huntsman are all I can remember actually… and Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters was also pushed out to 2013 - Jack The Giant Slayer would have actually left the others in the dust. It's not super fantastic of supposed blockbuster appeal, and Singer's stock has dropped considerably since the mis-step of referential / reverential Superman Returns and the slightly dour Valkyrie (although Mockingbird Lane was lots of fun, if completely dismissed from having an actual chance). It probably shouldn't have been a surprised if the studio decided to dump the movie into this seasonal dead zone. Then again, it's now obvious that they had no idea exactly how to market the film. The trailers really don't do the movie any justice at all. Taking a spin on the Jack and The Beanstalk fairy tale, Jack the Giant Slayer is more a romp with some great dialogue, wonderful ideas going on and some great turns, especially from the senior cast members. Ian McShane brings some gravitas (not too much) to King Brahmwell while an almost unrecognisable Ewan McGregor puts up the derring do as Elmont, head of the Royal Brigade and bodyguard to Princess Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson). The constantly enjoyable Stanley Tucci gets to twirl the moustache as Roderick, accompanied by a wonderfully hammy Ewen Bremner as Wicke. What the story does is give us just the right amount where each of the characters are concerned and leave us wanting just that little bit more, but the focus has to be on the titular Jack (Nicholas Hoult, very ably carrying the movie, enough that I want to check out his other film, Warm Bodies) and Isabelle. The two are shown to be quite kindred spirits right from the beginning And then there are the giants (yes, plural) led by the two headed Fallon (voiced by Bill Nighy, sounding very much like Pirate of The Caribbean's Davy Jones). The giants are an intriguing bunch, most of whom have their own individual personalities, which breathes some life into the horde so that they're not just one one big bunch of a threat. So, character and effects design really get a good workout here, as is the world-building (kept simple for the most part), with some excellent costume design from Joanna Johnston. Editor John Ottman also provides the rousing and adventurous score. There are a few niggling flaws but as the ending shows (my favourite aspect to the whole thing, the animated prologue being my second favourite thing about the movie), things get left out, forgotten and changed as the story gets passed through the generations into the fairy tale that we know today (spoiler? don't think so since it's not really the ending of the movie or even the epilogue or a plot point). Still a little resolution to some things might have been nice to acknowledged, but it the greater scheme of the story, it's probably deemed not too important. The overall approach to the story and how its presented is key tho, and that's what makes the movie work for me on an overall basis. Solid characters with a great sense of fun, and full-bloodied adventure on hand, this is pretty much the best of the new movies I've seen so far.
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