First Hansel and Gretel, then the Wizard of Oz, and now
Jack and the Beanstalk... Anyone see a pattern forming here?!
When I first heard about ‘Jack the Giant Slayer’,
admittedly, I thought to myself, ‘wow, another fairy tale being modernised?
What is the deal?’ So, with an inquisitive and almost sceptical state of
mind, I decided to check out this latest fairy story adaptation to uncover
whether it really does work, or if the magic is kind of dying off a little now...
The plot, shock horror, isn’t far off the lines of the
classic story. When 18-year-old farmhand Jack (Nicholas Hoult) unknowingly
opens a gateway between our world and a formidable race of giants, he finds
himself having to save plucky Princess Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson) and all of
humankind in an epic battle.
Directed by Bryan Singer, this American fantasy
adventure film has everything you need and expect from a family movie – a
meddling bad guy, a sprinkling of romance, the odd splattering of comedy and
oozings of action-packed, edge-of-your-seat moments.
However, the intercutting scenes of the child princess
talking with her dad and young Jack chatting to his uncle (as if they were
having a similar conversation), was a bit of a dry start-up. It didn’t really
captivate my attention from the get-go, which I would expect, as with any film.
Key scenes for me included the twisting beanstalks
rising up and crashing down forcefully, and also the moment where Elmont (Ewan
McGregor) gets captured by the giants and turned into a human-sized sausage
roll – no justification needed, really.
So, overall, how well does this particular traditional
tale translate to the big screen? Pretty well, I would say. With enough
elements of the old school story to keep it traditional (the classic beans and
the hideous giants), combined with the modernity of today’s technology, the
film is a perfect blend of old and new. Definitely worth a watch!
By Grace
Montgomery
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