By Ryan Baker-

Jack the Giant Slayer
3D
PG-13
1 HR., 54 MINS.
Directed by Bryan Singer
Starring Michael Self, Sydney Rawson, Nicholas Hoult, Eleanor Tomlinson, Stanly Tucci, Ian Mcshane
Rating B

There are so many slightly changed spin-offs of original stories that it is reasonable to never want to go to any of them. Jack the Giant Slayer, a fan, clever, and original film does not fit into this category and is a must see. The film is directed by Bryan Singer and is one of the few that is based off a classic story, but is not an exact retelling.

In the kingdom of Cloister, Jack (Michael Self), a young farm boy, was intrigued by the legend of Erik that his father would read to him. Erik was a king of legend who was said to have defeated an invading army of giants from a world in the sky with a crown forged from the heart of one of the great beasts. At the same time, the young Princess Isabelle (Sydney Rawson) is fascinated by the same story. The two children, though worlds apart, would soon become linked by the same legend their parents read to them every night.

Ten years later, a grown Jack, played by Nicholas Hoult, now a young man yearning for adventure, is sent into town to sell his horse to support his uncle’s farm. There, Jack gets sidetracked and first acquaints himself with Isabelle, played by Eleanor Tomlinson, now a young woman who despises spending all her time in the castle, preferring to see the kingdom with her own eyes, by defending her from a group of thugs.

Meanwhile, Roderick (Stanly Tucci), a devious and ambitious man who is engaged to Isabelle, returns to his study, finding that his magic beans, the only way to get to the giant’s land, have been stolen.

As Jack is trying to sell the horse, a monk, the thief of the magic beans, approaches Jack and trades with him. Later that day, Isabelle fights with her father, King Brahmwell (Ian Mcshane), a stern man who cares a lot about his daughter, about wanting to explore the kingdom, something the king refuses to let her do. Likewise, Jack’s uncle yells at him for being foolish throwing the beans on the ground, making one fall into the cellar.

Disobeying her father’s orders, Isabelle leaves the castle, but takes shelter in Jack’s house when it starts raining. While there, the bean in the cellar takes root carrying the house into the sky with the princess inside. The next morning the king along with his knights showed up at the sire. Jack, who escaped the house, asks to go up the beanstalk with the knights and Roderick to save the princess. The king accepts his request, and Jack goes up into the unknown world of giants for the adventure of a lifetime.

The first half of Jack the Giant Slayer is almost completely original. Sure there is a boy named Jack, magic beans, a beanstalk, giants, and a horse instead of a cow, but the rest is all original. The mysterious Roderick and the addition of a princess make it so that the only sure thing that will happen is the ascending of the beanstalk. You also receive a strong perception of what the characters are like by the way they act and speak.

The second half of the movie is even more exciting than the first. It is filled with action, adventure, plot twists that will have your head spinning, and even a little romance between a certain farmer and princess.

Overall, Jack the Giant Slayer is a good movie that has quite a few things going for it. It did have some drawbacks though. The 3D effects were almost non-existent as most of the movie was actually 2D with only a few parts of 3D added in. Because of this, I give Jack the Giant Slayer a B.