Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum! …. Well Sort Of…
Oh No! Here we go again, another uncreative film made from the scraps of old stories to put new money in someone’s pocket. Recently, it seems Hollywood has taken quite the interest in our beloved fairy tales. They have remade and modernized many over the last few years, including Alice in Wonderland, Little Red Riding Hood, Peter Pan, and Snow White. (Snow being done twice in one year, or three times if you count the very elaborate T.V. series “Once Upon A Time”.) Unfortunately, there are times when they fail miserably, as with a few of the above, and we are stuck trying to forget the last hour and a half of our lives. Even though this happens more often than not, there is no need to fear my faithful adventurers. Occasionally we get lucky and get a nice treat of unexpected wonder. This is one of those cases.
An amazing adventure unfolds with its roots from “Jack the Giant Killer”; written in 1711 by J. White of Newcastle, and is intertwined with the famous fairy tale we all know and love, “Jack and the Beanstalk”. Director Bryan Singer has definitely gifted us with this wonderful story full of love, bravery, adventure, betrayal, and bloodshed, entitled “Jack the Giant Slayer”. It is, without a doubt, a movie any fantasy lover will want to watch again and again.
"Fee Fi Fo Fum Ask not whence the thunder comes Ask not where the birds have gone For between heaven and earth is a perilous place. Home to a fearsome giant race.Who hunger to conquer the mortals below, Waiting for the seeds of revenge to grow."
Opening with a brilliantly revised poem, this movie immediately entertains and demands the viewer’s attention. Getting it started off right, I would say, with the perfect amount of information and an incredibly fun way to learn it. Now usually, when watching something based off of a classic, changing too many things can be devastating to the viewer’s enjoyment of the film, but the writers on “Jack the Giant Slayer” surely have something to be proud of here. Very well written, intelligent, intriguing, and interesting, this poem is everything it needs to be to “plant the seeds” of curiosity. Depicting and ancient war turned to legend; it prepares you for the adventure of a lifetime that is soon to be revealed.
Focusing on a distracted young farm boy named Jack, (Played by Nicholas Hoult from the recent zombie romance “Warm Bodies”.) the movie begins with the familiarity of the fairy tale. Jack is given a horse and cart, and sent to town to sell them. Needless to say, Jack returns home with no money and a handful of beans. His uncle, furious about his nephew’s lack of responsibility, throws the beans down and sets off into town to do the job himself.
While home alone, Jack gets quite the surprise in the middle of the night. A knock on his door introduces the beautiful Princess Isabelle, (Played by Eleanor Tomlinson) who is out in search of an adventure and a way to prove to her father that she is able and not in need of constant protection. Both are completely unaware of the single bean that found its way underneath Jack’s home, or what it could mean for their world. That is, of course, besides the tale of the giants that has long ago faded into nothing but a legend.
Here the adventure begins with Princess Isabelle captured by the stalk and taken straight up to the giant’s realm. Jack, waking up after falling from the stalk, finds himself surrounded by the king’s elite guard in search of the princess. Jack shows them the stalk, and shortly after starts off with the royal guard, fronted by Sir Elmont (Played by Ewan McGregor) and the king’s royal advisor, also Princess Isabelle’s betrothed, Lord Roderick. (Played by Stanley Tucci) They set off on a dangerous trek up the beanstalk, unknowingly reconstructing the framework for an ancient war to take its place back in the land.
While thousands of feet above his home, Jack finds himself face to face with a fearsome race of giants right out of his own fairy tale. With friend and foe alike causing trouble, Jack keeps headstrong to his mission of finding Princess Isabelle and returning her to safety. Through strain and strife, with the love of a princess and the safety of the kingdom below weighing on his shoulders, we watch our peasant farm boy transform into a hero and rightfully earn his title as giant slayer.
A story of love conquering the worst of situations, action packed battle scenes, seriously gruesome giants, amazing scenery, and a storyline that cannot be bested; this movie has something for everyone, well almost. Unfortunately, our younger fantasy lovers should definitely wait before catching this flick. While the movie is rated PG-13, I would not recommend it for anyone younger than 16. The giants are no longer the slow moving, dumb creatures that we think of from fairy tales. Jack and the king’s elite guard are hard pressed with the new take on these old villains. Therefore, there are plenty of gory and bloody reasons to wait for the children to go to bed before you turn this one on.
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