'Jack the Giant Slayer' review: Old-fashioned fun
Cook, voiced by Philip Philmar, in a scene from "Jack the Giant Slayer." Credit: AP
If you've seen the posters for "Jack the Giant Slayer," starring Nicholas Hoult as a teenage version of the title role, you might be wondering: Where are Jack's double-barreled shotguns? Does he have awesome martial-arts skills? A skintight leather jacket? Or at least a snarky attitude and a gift for withering one-liners?
Nope, he's just Jack, unmodernized and unironic, pretty much the same fellow you once read about, and "Jack the Giant Slayer" is the kind of old-fashioned, entertaining fantasy-adventure you once saw regularly in theaters.
It's fun and fast-moving, family-friendly but never pandering, funny but never jokey. It's the rare kids' movie that adults will be glad they chaperoned.
The plot hasn't changed much, but new wrinkles and ideas freshen the familiar tale. Instead of one giant, there's an army of them grumbling up in sky-high Gantua, peering down hungrily at ye olde kingdom of Cloister. When the inevitable beanstalk appears -- no spindly reed, but an earth-ripping tornado of vegetation -- Jack climbs it to save the runaway Princess Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson).
"Jack the Giant Slayer" doesn't quite feel magical -- it has more smarts than heart -- but it runs like clockwork thanks to an imaginative script (co-written by Christopher McQuarrie) and pitch-perfect direction from Bryan Singer (both of "The Usual Suspects").
It's scary in just the right measure, funny whenever possible and almost entirely free of modern fairy-tale "updates."
What, no wise-quacking golden goose? Now that's a twist.
Acting a tall order for these four guys
They might be giants: These four actors (well, to be fair, two were NBA players) rank among the tallest performers on the big screen.
Most Popular
Top Stories
