'Jack the Giant Slayer' a fun fantasy

One of the primary reasons that I go to the movies is to have fun, and above all else, to be entertained. Sure it's nice to be fully engaged and engrossed in a story that stimulates my mind, but once in awhile it's also enjoyable to just sit back, turn the brain off for a bit, and get lost in a magical world of fantasy. I must admit that my expectations were quite modest for the new film Jack the Giant Slayer, but much to my surprise it ended up being quite a bit of fun and fairly entertaining to boot.

This re-imagining of the classic Jack and the Beanstalk fairy tale stars Nicholas Hoult (fresh off the hit, Warm Bodies) as Jack, the poor farm boy who is sent on an errand to sell the family horse. Along the way he encounters a beautiful young lady that he takes a shine to who turns out to be the King's daughter. Princess Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson) has escaped her overprotective father (Ian McShane) in disguise in order to get a taste of what the real world is like, and after a quick connection is made with Jack, she is quickly whisked away by her security detail, led by the loyal Elmont (Ewan McGregor).

Jack returns home without his horse, but instead with a bag of beans that he has acquired. Of course these aren't your ordinary run-of-the-mill beans, they're magical beans obviously. One stormy night the princess flees the kingdom again because her father is forcing her to marry the weaselly cad Roderick (the always reliable Stanley Tucci) whom she detests, and she ends up taking shelter inside Jack's home. When one of the magic beans gets accidentally wet all hell breaks loose as the giant beanstalk sprouts up sending the princess sky high into the mythical land of giants. Jack, feeling responsible for the princess, volunteers to join the rescue mission alongside Elmont and his men as well as Roderick with his duplicitous follower Wicke (Ewan Bremner). Upon completing their long, arduous climb up the enormous beanstalk the rescue party find themselves in a wondrous land of giants. But these aren't very friendly giants at all, in fact they like to eat flesh and consider men a rare delicacy.

Anyone familiar with the fairy tale will get the gist of where the story goes from here. There are a few surprises thrown in along the way, one involving a magic crown that causes the giants to pledge their fealty and bend the knee to whomever possesses it, but the rest of the film involves chases, escapes and battles, with a little romance thrown in for good measure.

Director Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, X-Men, Superman Returns) keeps things moving along at a fairly brisk pace. There aren't really any dead points and I was never bored throughout the film. There's not a whole lot of depth to the story however, and the character development is pretty thin at best, but that's often to be expected in these type of fantasy films that place more emphasis on dazzling the viewers with special effects. I must say though that the reported $190 million budget was put to pretty good use with some spectacular visuals involving the giants and the beanstalk which seemed to have a life of its own. There are some rousing battle sequences as well that involved giants hurling flaming trees and large boulders over the castle walls that reminded me of moments in the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter films. I'm not comparing the quality of this film to those, but the effects are nearly on par.

Jack the Giant Slayer is a movie that should appeal to all members of the family, young and old alike, although it may be a bit too intense and scary for really young children. The performances all around are fine, the cast is likable and there is plenty of fanciful adventure on display. It's a solid piece of fantasy entertainment.

Don't bother with the 3-D though as I found that it didn't really do anything to enhance the film in any way.

Fe! Fi! Fo! Fum! Jack the Giant Slayer is plenty of fun!

I give Jack the Giant Slayer a 7 out of 10.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.