Lots of Fun
Here's a new take on an old tale. Rated PG-13 and directed by Bryan Singer ("X-Men"), this "Jack and the Beanstalk" is well cast, visually exciting, and lots of fun. Computer Generated Imaging has made fantasy stories more and more fantastical; this one is mind-boggling.
We admire:
* Nicholas Hoult ("Warm Bodies") is resourceful and resolute as Jack, the nice young man who drops a magic bean and... "Uh oh," gets it WET. Later, as he clambers up that amazing beanstalk, he admits he "doesn't much like heights."
* Eleanor Tomlinson ("Alice in Wonderland") is Isabel, an adventurous princess who finds waaaay more adventure than she bargained for.
* Ian McShane ("Deadwood") is the king, ready to marry off his daughter to a much older man in order to achieve peace with a neighboring kingdom. But he pitches right in when his kingdom is under attack.
* Stanley Tucci ("The Hunger Games") makes the perfect bridegroom/villain: ambitious, ruthless and cruel...
This film is fee-fi-fo-FUN - but a little bit too scary for little children...
I liked this film and together with my 12 years old daughter we spend a nice moment watching it. It is however definitely not recommended to little children, like 10 and younger. This review contains limited SPOILERS.
This retelling of old tale of Jack and the Beanstalk is pretty well done, with many key ingredients of fairy tales well in place. There is a brave and ultimately quite clever farm boy (Jack), a cute and quite likeable damsel in distress, a noble king, his brave knights, a vilainous treacherous scoundrel, powerful magic items, a really REALLY BAD giant alpha (and beta) and a whole batallion of other giants, almost as dangerous as their two-headed leader.
Past the first 10 minutes, the film is rather quick paced and visually it is very pleasant: the sky domain of giants, the giant beanstalks and the mighty royal fortress are really impressive. The desperate fight of royal army against the giants besieging the great royal castle is a particularly well...
ENDING MOVIES WITH BIG BATTLES... isn't always the most interesting choice
Rumored that "Jack" was doomed to flop, you may assume that going into the film that it may be terrible. That isn't the case. It was just an expensive film to make, approximately $190 million. Based on the fact, that Warner Brothers Studios has numerous movies ("Harry Potter", "Dark Knight", "The Hobbit") in its pocket that will make up for whatever loss, if any, "Jack" sustains, you should not weep for them. Although, you may consider whether or not to take the time to go see it in theaters or get the bluray/DVD.
Why not! It's a fun movie. Not to mention, it is one of those rare movies that anybody in the family can watch and enjoy. There are some dark moments in the film and some mildly scary moments, but it's all fun. We all know the story of Jack and the Beanstalk and now, with today's incredible technology, we can see this fairy tale, mostly imagined up to this point, in vivid 3-D and live action or CG action.
Director Bryan Singer knows a thing or two about...
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