3 stars out of 4
Three years ago this month, Walt Disney Pictures unleashed an explosion of financial reward and industrial influence in the form of the big budget Tim Burton-Johnny Depp vehicle, ALICE IN WONDERLAND. Featuring 3D projection then-recently made popular by James Cameron's box-office juggernaut AVATAR, a cult-favorite source material (of both Lewis Caroll's works and of the 1951 Disney animated feature of the same title), and a crack marketing strategy which banked heavily on the shopping habits of the better part of Burton's fanbase, i.e. Hot Topic, ALICE IN WONDERLAND grossed over a $1 billion worldwide, and to date is one of only 13 films to do so. As ALICE IN WONDERLAND thickly lined the pockets at Disney, the rest of Hollywood had an epiphany and there was a mad rush to place dibs on the now-proven lucrative public domain properties of fairy tales. The first out the door was Warner Bros.' RED RIDING HOOD a year later in March 2011, and in last year included 2 Snow White films, MIRROR, MIRROR and SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN. Multiple other big budget fairytale adventures remain in development, including MALIFICENT, based on Sleeping Beauty and due in Summer 2014, and CINDERELLA, expected for 2014, to name a couple brewing at Disney, while a few fell to the wayside.
JACK THE GIANT SLAYER was originally slated for release way back in June 2012 with the title JACK THE GIANT KILLER, but in January 2012, the film was rescheduled for a March 2013 release, the official reasoning being to spend more time working out post-production special effects and establish a better marketing presence, but likely also for a less competitive March lineup instead of going up against the merciless summer season. March is sort of the potential franchise "testing grounds" of cinema, where big budget "summer-esque" movies are released with only minor competition in order to test their viability as a franchise to produce future sequels that can hold their own in the busy summer and Christmas seasons.
JACK THE GIANT SLAYER, of course, is an adaptation of the Jack and the Beanstalk fairytale, and stars Nicholas Hoult as Jack. Do you remember that goofy-looking fat kid who played the annoying Marcus Brewer in ABOUT A BOY (2002)? Well, that's Hoult, who also starred in last month's WARM BODIES as the romantic zombie with a wry sense of humor, Z. In these two starring roles, Hoult confirms his vast appeal as a male lead, and as Jack, he exudes the classical charm of a swashbuckling hero.
Much of the film is surprisingly faithful to the story with only a few additional plot details here and there, particularly a female romantic interest in the form of Princess Isabella, played by Eleanor Tomlinson, and the royal drama she brings along.
Jack is a poor farm boy, orphaned and living with his cantankerous uncle, who sends him to the market to sell their horse to pay for living expenses. Though not as deliberately as in tradition, Jack does wind up trading the horse for a handful of magic beans, and in the same trip, meets Isabella, who is exploring the market incognito. When Jack's uncle sees the beans, he angrily tosses them aside and, unbeknownst to Jack, one tumbles between the floorboards. That night, as Jack's uncle is away to sell the family treasures in desperation, Isabella runs away from the castle again and seeks shelter in Jack's cottage during a rainstorm. As the downpour saturates the ground beneath the house, the giant beanstalk explodes from the ground, taking the cottage up with it, but Jack falls out as the Princess is carried away. Up in a hidden kingdom in the clouds, Isabella is kidnapped by grotesque giants who have been banished to the sky for generations and have awaited the opportunity to return to the land of men to wage war and feast on their favorite food. Together with the King's Royal Guard, led by the dashing Elmont (Ewan McGregor), Jack ventures up the beanstalk to rescue the Princess. But amongst their company is Lord Roderick (the ever-excellent character actor Stanley Tucci), the King's trusted adviser who has designs to usurp power.
As you can tell, the additions to the story are basically archetypal characters directly out of a Disney animated feature, but that's the kind of film this is, and it works. It may not provide any strong or bold new elements, so the film is pretty light on substance, but it works. Some elements move past whimsy and become annoying, such as Roderick's bumbling sidekick (I know, right?) played by British comedian, Ewen Bremner, and a slow-witted extra head on the giants' chief, but neither are given substantial attention.
JACK THE GIANT SLAYER is a light and fun fantasy/action-adventure film in the vein of films like JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS and THE PRINCESS BRIDE. It's probably the first of this ALICE IN WONDERLAND-aftershock not to attempt for a highly-stylized production design and is the better for it. It has a boyish perspective with striking myth-esque environments, goofy humor and a healthy helping of gross moments, including one giant's eye that flies out at the screen when popped out in one scene.
It's a simplistic film that relies heavily on CGI special effects and unlikely to be of much consequence, but it's just so refreshing after all the generic sludge of January and February, to finally see a film where the effort is onscreen and there's good old-fashioned fun to be had.
DIRECTED BY: Bryan Singer
STARRING: Nicholas Hoult, Eleanor Tomlinson, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Ian McShane, Bill Nighy (voice)
Rated PG-13 for intense scenes of fantasy action violence, some frightening images and brief language.
YOU MAY ENJOY JACK THE GIANT SLAYER IF YOU LIKED:
JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS (1963)
THE PRINCESS BRIDE (1987)
X-MEN (2000)
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY (2012)
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