Jack the Giant Slayer (2013)

The ancient war between humans and a race of giants is reignited when Jack, a young farmhand fighting for a kingdom and the love of a princess, opens a gateway between the two worlds.

Director:

Bryan Singer

Writers:

Darren Lemke (screenplay), Christopher McQuarrie (screenplay),

Stars:

Nicholas Hoult, Stanley Tucci, Ewan McGregor

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nicholas Hoult	...	Jack
Eleanor Tomlinson	...	Isabelle
Ewan McGregor	...	Elmont
Stanley Tucci	...	Roderick
Eddie Marsan	...	Crawe
Ewen Bremner	...	Wicke
Ian McShane	...	King Brahmwell
Christopher Fairbank	...	Uncle
Simon Lowe	...	Monk
Mingus Johnston	...	Bald
Ralph Brown	...	General Entin
Joy McBrinn	...	Old Maid
Chris Brailsford	...	Blacksmith
Warwick Davis	...	Old Hamm
Craig Salisbury	...	Panto Erik the Great

Storyline

Sent to the market by his uncle to sell their horse and buy thatch for their roof, Jack meets the beautiful Princess Isabelle whom he rescues her from ruffians. He returns home only with a handful of beads given to him by a monk who claimed they were sacred but that does little to impress his uncle who tosses them away. In the night the Princess arrives having run off to keep from marrying Roderick who is clearly only interested in becoming king. Soon the beans take root with a giant stalk carrying away the princess and Jack's house. He soon sets off on an adventure with the king's guards to rescue the princess only to find that a mythical land filled with giants really exists.

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Plot Keywords:

Princess | Giant | King | Horse | Monk | 

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Taglines:

Prepare for a giant adventure

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Genres:

Adventure | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense scenes of fantasy action violence, some frightening images and brief language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 March 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

Jack the Giant Killer

Filming Locations:

Longcross Studios, Chobham Lane, Longcross, Surrey, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$195,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$27,202,226 (USA) (1 March 2013)

Gross:

$61,399,384 (USA) (29 March 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Legendary Pictures, Original Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Features some allusions to the Biblical story of David. David, like Jack, slew the giant, then married the King's daughter to become King. David slew Goliath using his sling. In reference to this, one of the giants uses a slingshot to fire stones at the city.

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Goofs

On the land of the Giants, there are sheep, bees, and presumably many other animals, all the same size as they'd be back on Earth, yet the two headed Giant has an enormous Goat Skull as decorative shoulder armor.

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Quotes

Jack: Am I dead?
Elmont: Not just yet.

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Crazy Credits

The silhouetted men in the Bad Hat Harry logo are replaced by giants.

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Connections

Featured in Maltin on Movies: Jack the Giant Slayer (2013)
Movie reviewed in this episode.

User Reviews

Jack the Giant-Jackass!

Bryan Singer is undoubtedly a very skilled Director, this is the guy who gave us The Usual Suspects and the best example for the first perfect comicbook movie: X-Men. Known for handling an ensemble cast with ease, his direction packs all kinda punch. Cant say all these lately though. Remember that awful Superman Returns? It was more a mushy Lois and Clarke story than a good Superman movie, pushing the franchise further down to depths.

Another addition to his disgrace is this year's Jack The Giant Slayer. Unlike studios going for rebooting every piece of crap there is, this one is cashing on the 're-imagined retelling of a classic fairytale'. Previously we had got the moronic Snow White & The Huntsman and the amusing but shallow Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters. This time though the wheel of misfortune landed on a modern day retelling of Jack & The Beanstalk. I used to love the tale of Jack, the beanstalk, the golden goose and but of course the giant. The illustrations from the huge fairytale book still afresh in my head. It was as simple as that and exactly why it retains the title of one of the best fairy tales ever. What we've got here with Jack The Giant Slayer is a mangled mess of a fairytale. Jack The Giant Slayer is unnecessarily filled with one dimensional characters, a convoluted plot about the war going on between humans and giants and unconvincing CG Giants…loads of em. Despite having some major AAA actors like Ian McShane, Stanley Tucci, Eddie Marsan, everybody among the cast felt like they were forced to act. Even the ever wonderful Ewan McGregor was not at his best here. And please don't get me started on Nicholas Hoult as Jack. I was like WTF when I'd seen him in X-men First Class. If there ever was a male Kristen Stewart counterpart, that'd be him. I say he's better off playing the zombie in Warm Bodies.

The only saving graces are the bewitchingly gorgeous Eleanor Tomlinson as Princess Isabelle who'd, if not by acting charms, will steal the scene via pleasing your eyes and a better mocapped Bill Nighy as the giant General Fallon; he at least brought some life to the otherwise lifeless CG giant. In spite of being PG13 its ridden with very dark visuals. PS: Mr Bryan, If you are still going for a gorefest you better don't chop off the juicy parts…like when a giant is shown biting the head off a guy though quickly snipped so as not to show gore. Now that I've seen this along with Bryan's recent attempts at TV's Mockingbird Lane, my thoughts regarding X-Men Days of the Future Past remains perilously skeptic.