Jack the Giant Slayer

ACTION/ADVENTURE, SCI-FI/FANTASY, 3D

Fee, Fye, Foe, Fumm

7.0 out of 10 | DVD or Rental

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Rated: PG-13 Intense scenes of fantasy action violence, some frightening images and brief language.
Release Date: March 1, 2013
Runtime: 1 hour 55 minutes

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Director: Bryan Singer
Writers: Darren Lemke, Christopher McQuarrie, Dan Studney, David Dobkin
Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Eleanor Tomlinson, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Eddie Marsan, Ewen Bremner, Ian McShane, Bill Nighy, Cornell John, Andrew Brooke, Angus Barnett, Ben Daniels

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SYNOPSIS: 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.

REVIEW: Valkyrie and X-Men director Bryan Singer returns to the big screen with a fantasy adventure based on the classic tale of Jack and the Beanstalk. A cadre of writers flesh out the original tale, including Shrek Forever After scribe Darren Lemke, Jack Reacher screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie, plus David Dobkin and Dan Studney. Can Singer succeed with a farm boy named Jack where he failed with a farm boy named Clark.

Jack (Nicolas Hoult, Warm Bodies) loves to hear about the legends of King Eric, magic beans created by monks trying to commune with their god, a massive bean stalk that led them to a realm between heaven and earth - a realm ruled by Giants with the thirst to acquire material objects and acquire the taste for human meat. Only the creation of a crown created from the hard heart of a Giant and worn by King Eric was able to stem the tide of the pillaging giants ravaging the earth and return the leviathans back to their realm. Fact became fiction. Fiction became legend. Legend became myth and stories to be told to children from fairy tale books. Young Jack revels in the stories his father tells of the legendary giants. Ten years later a more grown up Jack works on his uncle's farm, sent to the kingdom's castle to sell a horse and cart. While there, Jack intercedes when a young woman Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson, Alice in Wonderland) who is being accosted by village drunks. When Isabelle is sought out and rescued by the guardians of King Brahmwell (Ian McShane, Snow White and the Huntsman). As Princess Isabelle flees from the castle in search of adventure, she stumbles upon Jack's farm where an errant magical bean creates a beanstalk that transport Isabelle up to the mythical  floating lands of the Giants. The King summons his most trusted guardian Elmont (Ewan McGregor, The Impossible) to take a team up the stalk to rescue his daughter. Roderick (Stanley Tucci, The Hunger Games), Isabelle's arranged husband-to-be volunteers to go with the retrieval team, as does his assistant Wicke (Ewen Bremner, Great Expectations) and Jack himself. When they get to the top, they come face to face with a throng of Giants led by General Fallon (voiced by Bill Nighy, Total Recall), including Fee (voiced by Cornell John, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian), Fye (voiced by Andrew Brooke, Nice Guy), Foe (voiced by Angus Barnett, Hugo), and Fumm (voiced by Ben Daniels, Luna).

Based on the classic Jack and the Beanstalk tale, Bryan Singer and his stable of writers take the story and create a different spin on the tale of a farm boy taking on a land full of Giants bent on the pilfering and destruction of the human race. Can one forgettable boy birth succeed where royals and the noble ranks cannot? The tale is one of perseverance of a wayward dreamer pushing on in the name of romance and love. Add in the threat of mankind-hating Giants and you have a fantasy tale that a pre-adolescent audience will enjoy.

The Jack the Giant Slayer cast fit very well this fantasy adventure. Nicholas Hoult plays both the dreamy eyed farmboy and soon to be heroic conqueror of giants in equal measure. Ian McShane brings back a character similar to that he played in The Seeker: The Dark is Rising, always moving and speaking in even stoic tones. Tomlinson's Princess and future Queen Isabelle takes after her mother with a rebellious nature and adventurous spirit. She is beautiful enough to catch a man's eyes and tough enough to stand up for herself in the wild. Ewan McGregor, playing the King's General of the Guardians Elmont, takes a chapter from his later Ben Kenobi role to lead his men with grace, preparedness, and nobility. Stanley Tucci's Roderick and Ewen Bremner's Wicke represents the worst of humanity as he and his assistant only looks to take over the kingdom for his own power and gain, willing to use the Giants in the kingdom in the clouds to decimate the peoples in the lands Roderick wishes to rule. Bill Nighy leads the voice actors as the Giants' General Fallon.

Watching Jack the Giant Slayer is like watching The 7th Voyage of Sindbad or Jason and the Argonauts on Saturday morning television. While the story is fun and entertaining, the effects don't live up to expectations. The Giants in their own land in the clouds are stylized and well-defined but they don't really hold when on screen against the human actors. Maybe meant to be fanciful and stylized, the scenes with human actors against a green screen on a soundstage with additionally shots exterior horses and actors and CGI work behind doesn't mesh well together at all. In this world of The Lord of the Rings franchise or any of a number of superhero action adventures one would think that Brian Singer could have put together a tighter CGI fantasy effort.

Brian Singer is known for exemplary work with films like X-Men United, Apt Pupil and The Usual Suspects. He is no stranger to fine storytelling or good work with special effects. Somehow in this effort Singer missed the mark with FX that detracts from the story.

Jack the Giant Slayer will be a good flick for older kids and young teenagers. Parents or adults may like some of what they see but will realize they have seen better. So, when dealing with farm boys, Singer still struggles.

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Snow White and the Huntsman

Whose the Fairest?

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Rated: PG-13  Intense sequences of action, brief sensuality and intense sequences of violence
Release Date: June 1, 2012
Runtime:  2 hrs 7 mins

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Director: Rupert Sanders
Writers: Evan Daugherty, John Lee Hancock, Hossein Amini
Cast:  Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Sam Claflin, Sam Spruell, Ian McShane, Ray Winstone, Nick Frost, Bob Hoskins, Eddie Marsan, Toby Jones, Johnny Harris, Brian Gleeson

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SYNOPSIS: When the Huntsman is ordered by the Evil Queen to assassinate Snow White in the Dark Forest, he winds up becoming her protector and mentor in an attempt to defeat the powerful Queen.

REVIEW: DGA Award nominated commercial director Rupert Sanders moves up in class as he takes on the role of helmsman of a fairy tale that has been immortalized by Disney and many others in lesser degree. This more fierce incarnation of the raven haired and ruby lipped damsel is put to paper by Rusty Forkblades writer/director Evan Daugherty, The Blind Side writer/director John Lee Hancock, and the 2011 Drive writer Hossein Amini. With both fresh eyes and veteran experience, audiences may find that they have never seen Snow White quite like this.

When the queen finds a rose blooming in the middle of a glossy snowy garden, its thorns prick her finger and sends three drops of blood into the snow. She wishes for a daughter with raven hair, lips as red as the blood, skin as white as the snow, and a strength within her as strong as the rose in the winter garden. Months later, she has a baby girl and names her Snow White (Kristen Stewart, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1). Snow becomes beloved by the kingdom as she grows up, the apple of her parent's eyes. When the queen falls ill and dies, the king falls into sorrow. When a dark army threatens his lands, the king rides into battle and rescues a golden haired prisoner named Ravenna (Charlize Theron, Young Adult). Happy for the first time in a long time, the king makes Ravenna his wife. Queen Ravenna quickly betrays her king and takes over the kingdom. She lets her own armies onto the grounds with her brother Finn (Sam Spruell, The Hurt Locker). Ravenna locks Snow in the North tower of the castle until she comes of age and the Queen's magic mirror warns the Queen that Snow could be a grave threat or grant her eternal youth and beauty. Snow escapes to the Dark Forest. Enraged, Ravenna employs the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth, The Avengers) to track her down and bring her to the throne. A change of heart leads the Huntsman to find and protect Snow White, leading them deeper into the Dark Forest to encounter other magical creatures, reunite with old friend William (Sam Claflin, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides), and making new acquaintances in the form of dwarfs named Beith (Ian McShane, Deadwood), Muir (Bob Hoskins, Doomsday), Gort (Ray Winstone, Hugo), Nion (Nick Frost, Hot Fuzz), Duir (Eddie Marsan, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows), Coll (Toby James, The Hunger Games), Quert (Johnny Harris, Atonement), and Gus (Brian Gleeson, The Eagle).

As with many movies that are churned out by the big studios, there are many times a race to see what version of a property is released first and to more acclaim. 1998 had its looming meteoric threats with the action-packed Armageddon versus the deeper thinking Deep Impact. 2006 had the magic, illusions and a peek behind the mystical veil of both Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale's The Prestige versus Edward Norton's The Illusionist. And in early 1997, audiences felt the heat with both Dante's Peak and Volcano. I could go on. Here we are in 2012 with two stories of Snow White. Relativity Media distributed earlier this year with Julia Roberts and her more whimsical take of the Grimm's evil queen and the princess-turned-warrior. Now Universal Pictures and Roth Films bring forth an epic and stylistic version of the same tale with Snow White and the Huntsman. Which quest will succeed?

Director Rupert Sanders creates a world of dark enchantment with Snow White and the Huntsman. Both dark and beautiful, Sanders takes the sensibilities of the Lord of the Ring trilogy while still honoring earlier cartoon works of Walt Disney. Once Queen Ravenna wrests control of the kingdom from the fallen king the land falls into rotting ruins, the maintenance of her beauty reflected in the muddy spartan countryside that surrounds her castle. Her wardrobe is filled with sharp iron and flowing malice. Farther away from the center of Ravenna's reign the Dark Forest simmers and roils with menace, largely due to hallucinogenic spores that turn every rock into a spectral nightmare. Once past the borders of the forest, the lands turn lush again as one enters the lands of the fairies. With genteel animals and lazily floating nature, one can see in live action what Disney's Snow White portrayed in its colorful version. Throughout, numerous aerial pans show various craggy and rolling hills similar to LOTR.

Charlize Theron is both wonderfully complex and evil in her work as the Queen Ravenna, complete with her own childhood back story that makes her evil demeanor just a touch more sympathetic. She exudes an beautifully sculpted icy exterior with an addiction for power and a flawless youth. Chris Hemsworth, darkening his locks, covering his solid frame in a different type of leather, and taking on a more profound Irish accent, works hard and succeeds as the tortured warrior widower desperate to reconnect with his late wife in some small measure. Only a stray 'Hey' and 'Okay' take his dialogue out of the proper century. Kristen Stewart, although not impressive to me in  The Twilight Saga until the last installment, shows heart and growth as the princess-turned-warrior. She still seems a little unsure at times, but her Snow comes through as sympathetic heroine and eventual leader. Sanders uses full-sized actors for the roles of the pint-sized dwarfs, including Bob Hoskins, Ian McShane, and Nick Frost. Although the long shots may have substituted little people in, all of the actors in close-up provides a different look and feel to the dwarfs, closer to Peter Jackson's method for LOTR than films like Mirror, Mirror or Time Bandits.

Snow White and the Huntsman runs a long 127 minutes The film could have been tightened up a little bit but Sanders presents every scene like a gorgeous rendering, paying the utmost attentions to every wonderful detail. Every shot could be a still for a frame worthy poster. An early shot of Snow White and a white stallion felt for the briefest of moments like it should have been followed by a title for a perfume ad. Even if the action or story slowed, the visuals, the CGI, or the costumes still held me spellbound.

Snow White and the Huntsman is a visual stunner, filled with enough eye-candy to fill a popcorn bucket. Theron entrances with beauty and skill. Hemsworth, Spruell, and Sam Claflin deliver performances as solid as Thor's muscles. And the raven hair and blood red iips of Kristen Stewart give me hope in her still growing ability as an actress. Sanders offers a version of Snow White filled with intrigue, beauty, and inspiration. Whose the fairest of them all? Snow White and the Huntsman is certainly close!

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WORTH: Matinee or BluRay

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides 3D

Did Pirates 4 Miss The Boat?

Director: Rob Marshall

Writers: Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Stuart Beattie, Jay Wolpert, Tim Powers

Stars: Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, Ian McShane, Kevin McNally, Sam Claflin, Astrid Berges-Frisbey

SYNOPSIS: Captains Jack Sparrow and Barbosa quest for the elusive Fountain of Youth, only to discover that the notorious pirate Blackbeard and a Spanish armada are after its secrets too.

Johnny Depp single-handedly ignited the enduring Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. But to early chagrin of Disney's brass, Jack Sparrow may not have existed at all. But the first film surged forward with sails full to create a winning pirate experience with the coloned Curse of the Black Pearl. Where the first film was substance and frivolity with a wisp of renegade rogue, Dead Man's Chest and At World's End became simple spectacles and forced along a story that for some reason needed to be told and wrapped up.

Now, Rob Marshall, director of Nine, Chicago and, most importantly, the period film Memoirs of a Geisha, comes in with an original new direction concept from the Tim Powers novel "On Stranger Tides". Gone, somewhat for the better are Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley and much of the swash-buckling original trilogy cast, allowing for Captain Jack Sparrow to spread his wings again. Of course, former nemesis Barbosa is back, but they both face a greater threat in Ian McShane's Blackbeard and Penelope Cruz' sexy and exotic Angelica, Blackbeard's daughter and Sparrow interest.

As always, Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow brings an unfurled physical presence to the film. From the beginning, as he impersonates a London judge with robes and powdered wig in order to break Gibbs (Kevin McNally) out of a trip to the gallows, my hopes for On Stranger Tides were as high as the Black Pearl's crow's nest. And with the reintroduction of a now-peg legged Barbosa (Geoffrey Rush) working as a privateer for King George and Sparrow's daring escape from the King's palace through the streets of London, I spied a hint of the Pirates of the Caribbean roots.

In keeping with the themes of piracy, swashbuckling sword fights, mystical artifacts and exotic locations, On Stranger Tides has everything going for it. But one glaring omission from the original trilogy is the levity that the supporting cast brought to the helm. From Ragetti and Pintel to the King's bumbling Redcoats, the first film made us laugh in all the right spots, allowing Jack Sparrow to be hilarious with just his presence, muddled speech and quirky demeanor. In On Stranger Tides, Johnny Depp is the center of the film again, but is weighed down with the anchor of responsibility to entertain us, make us laugh, and more. Even the unflappable Captain Jack Sparrow may not be up for that challenge.

Angelica (Penelope Cruz) is an interesting foil for Sparrow, both keeping him at bay and keeping him docked near her. At the end of it all, you never get a sense of his feelings for her - but maybe that is the mystery that is Jack Sparrow. Better is the relationship between the mermaid Syrena (Astrid Berges-Frisbey) and the cleric Philip (Sam Claflin), a man, like Orlando Bloom's Will Turner, struggling to keep the righteous path while trying to save Syrena at all costs. Ian McShane's Blackbeard is slated as the ultimate evil pirate, but other than one instance of killing a man so that the rest of the crew remembers that he is not to be trifled with, he seems more a haunted, selfish man in search of youth than a bastion of carnage and chaos.

The 3D is beautiful, both used to great effect for deepening every scene and used for a few classic 3D sight gags. The scenes where Blackbeard's men attempt to capture a mermaid includes gorgeous finned women and a great action sequence. Marshall flies us through the exotic lush locales, bringing a vibrancy that the earlier films had eventually forgotten in favor of darker, wetter, salty fare. On Stranger Tides takes the franchise in a new direction, for better or worse, working the Fountain of Youth storyline well into the Jack Sparrow fabric. Sometimes its all about the journey, as Jack Sparrow says. But the journey is a little long and the pirates' booty at the end of the dashed path is really only half-full.

WORTH: Matinee and Blu-Ray (for the diehard fan)