"Giant Slayer" a Modest Success

At first glance, “Jack the Giant Slayer” appears to be yet another blockbuster reimagining of a fairy tale, the product of Hollywood’s recent obsession with adapting children’s stories and adding an adult twist. From January’s “Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters” to last summer’s “Snow White and the Huntsman,” fairy tale adaptations have proved disappointing for the most part. The general formula of combining attractive stars with “grit” does not guarantee successful films, or even enjoyable ones. But “Jack the Giant Slayer” knows that it is a fairy tale, and this self-awareness saves it from many of the same pitfalls.

Director Bryan Singer, best known for “The Usual Suspects” and several of the X-Men films, places a strong emphasis on impressive visuals and stunning special effects. At the film’s opening, we’re treated to a faithfully executed medieval setting with lavish costumes and sets. However, our later foray into the land of the giants reveals a truly extraordinary world, more expansive and colorful than our five-year-old imaginations could ever have conceived. The film is shot in 3D, which serves to accentuate specific visuals such as the beanstalk, a massive and intimidating being that seems capable of independent thought and action.

Out to conquer this beanstalk is dashing farm boy Jack (Nicholas Hoult, 10 years after his work in “About a Boy”). In an opening true to the original fairy tale, Jack misguidedly trades his family’s horse to a monk for a sack of beans. The twist, thankfully not gritty, is that while he is in the market, Jack encounters Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson), the princess of the kingdom of Cloister. Set to marry a man she doesn’t love, Isabelle is finally rebelling against the insularity and restrictiveness of her life. One plot contrivance later, and the two finally interact—until one of the aforementioned beans erupts into a beanstalk that carries the princess away to the land of giants, towards the sort of adventure she’s been seeking.

Although Hoult and Tomlinson gradually develop a good chemistry with each other, the movie’s stand- out performance comes from Ewan McGregor in his portrayal of Elmont, leader of the king’s guard. It’s refreshing to see McGregor in a lighter role after serious films such as “The Impossible” and “Beginners,” and his balance between Elmont’s moments of comic relief and regal seriousness make for some of the best scenes in the film.

In contrast, Stanley Tucci’s Roderick, the traitorous adviser and husband-to-be of Isabelle, comes off as buffoonish and caricaturish—fitting for a fairy tale villain, perhaps. The true standout antagonists are Bill Nighy and John Kassir as the re- spective big and little heads of Fallon, leader of the giants. Fallon shines as a vicious and vindictive villain with no mercy for humans. However, for the most part, the giants are merely fearsome and grotesque creatures born of CGI, crude and bumbling if only to help convince the audience that Jack can plausibly slay them.

“Jack the Giant Slayer” consistently hits the right chord with its wry, almost tongue-in-cheek sense of humor. Especially in dialogue, we’re treated to what nearly qualifies as witty banter but perhaps is just clever wordplay (Roderick saying “spill the beans,” for instance). Moreover, the writing remains very faithful to the source material—elements from both the classic “Jack and the Beanstalk” tale and lesser-known Cornish story “Jack the Giant Killer” are deftly integrated without the spirit of either being compromised. Still, at some moments, the film seems to assume a young audience and deliberately walks viewers through certain plot points. Add this on top of several plot contrivances and a deus ex machina in the film’s latter half, and the predictability soon becomes tiresome.

Nonetheless, “Jack and the Giant Slayer” is an enjoyable film—if taken as a fairy tale adaptation. The audience can’t expect innovative plot devices or new dimensions for the characters when most viewers have been familiar with the basic premise of the film since childhood. What do shine are the stunning visuals and the often clever writing, which transform what could have been a stilted premise into an exciting revisit of our childhood fantasies.