[5]

They were re-writing the script for Jack the Giant Slayer while they shot the movie, and it shows. It’s a bit of a hot mess. I’m a fan of director Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, X-Men) and I’m down to watch Nicholas Hoult (About a Boy, Warm Bodies) carry a film, but the film never hooked me. The only character who musters any emotional resonance is beleaguered King Brahmwell (Ian McShane). But I dig a royal who’s quick to get down and dirty when the chips (and the beanstalk) are down. Everyone else is just going through the motions, on the page and on the screen. The abundance of computer animation further alienates me — Lord, deliver me from plastic paradises! The movie also has trouble finding the right tone — it wants to be a scary monster movie, but it’s lost in some sort of family-friendly fog. The best scene for me was watching Ewan McGregor get rolled up in dough along with two live hogs for a giant-sized pigs-in-a-blanket snack. With Stanley Tucci and Bill Nighy.