Jack And The Giants Movie
Fans of high-fantasy CGI spectacle, those who don’t mind plot holes the size of a giant’s footprint, and anyone who wants to see Ewan McGregor deliver a Shakespearean speech while hanging off a vine.
The most damning critique, however, is the lack of genuine heart. The romance between Jack and Isabelle feels contractual rather than passionate. The giants, for all their terrifying design, are one-note monsters. There’s no pathos, no tragic backstory, just a desire to eat “Cloisters.” The film forgets that the best fantasy stories (from Pan’s Labyrinth to The NeverEnding Story ) succeed because of their emotional stakes, not just their spectacle.
The film follows Jack (Nicholas Hoult), a young, impoverished farmhand living in the kingdom of Cloister. He’s dreamy but practical, until he inadvertently trades his horse for a handful of “magic” beans. Meanwhile, the headstrong Princess Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson) flees an arranged marriage and seeks refuge at Jack’s farm. A rainstorm, a dropped bean, and a cracked floor later, a colossal beanstalk erupts into the sky, carrying the princess’s house—and the princess herself—into the realm of the clouds. jack and the giants movie
Jack and the Giants (2012)
The movie was produced by Davis Entertainment and Dune Entertainment, with a budget of $35 million. It was filmed in various locations in the United Kingdom, including London and Glasgow. Fans of high-fantasy CGI spectacle, those who don’t
You demand tight scripts, deep character development, or a consistent tone.
The story follows Jack (Nicholas Hoult), a young farmhand who inadvertently opens a gateway between the human realm and Gantua, the sky-world of a fearsome race of giants. When Princess Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson) is carried off into the sky by the rapidly growing beanstalk, Jack joins the King's elite guardians, led by Elmont (Ewan McGregor), on a perilous rescue mission. The giants, for all their terrifying design, are
If you go in expecting the next Lord of the Rings , you will be sorely disappointed. But if you approach it as a rainy Sunday afternoon popcorn flick—a film that wants to show you cool giants, a neat beanstalk, and some decent sword fights—you’ll have an okay time. It is the cinematic equivalent of a giant’s meal: enormous, impressive to look at, but ultimately lacking in nutritional value.
So why isn’t Jack the Giant Slayer considered a classic? The answer lies in a script that is as thin as the beanstalk’s upper branches. The screenplay, credited to a committee (Darren Lemke, Christopher McQuarrie, and Dan Studney), never decides what it wants to be. It swings uneasily between grim dark fantasy ( The Dark Knight with giants) and campy adventure ( The Princess Bride with less wit). The tonal whiplash is constant.
Brian Kirk