“Jack the Giant Slayer,” appearing in 2013 and under Bryan Singer’s direction, shares some plot points with “Jack the Giant Killer” from 1962; Nicholas Hoult portrays the kind farm boy, Eleanor Tomlinson is the lovely princess, and Ian McShane takes on the role of the king. The story follows a rural hero who defeats several giants and saves the princess, but that’s where the parallels between these two movies stop. Instead of an evil wizard and his dark castle, this film features harsh giants and a massive beanstalk leading to their impressive world high above the clouds. Even though nearly $200 million was invested primarily in creating the CGI giants and their environment, “Jack the Giant Slayer” doesn’t quite measure up to “Jack the Giant Killer,” which had noticeably cheap effects, but they were endearing. The giants and their realm certainly look great, as far as cartoonish computer-generated imagery goes, however, more time and money should have been dedicated to developing the characters and story to truly engage the audience. Essentially, despite all of the action/adventure and the millions spent on CGI, the narrative is fairly unremarkable. Still, it’s an acceptable movie if you enjoy films heavy with computer-generated imagery like “King Kong” (2005) and “Avatar” (2009). Hoult and Tomlinson are perfectly adequate as the main characters; Hoult brings to mind Richard Thomas. I simply wanted the script to give them more depth and make us invested in their struggles. The film’s length is 1 hour, 54 minutes, and filming took place in England (Surrey, Norfolk & Somerset). Additional cast members include Ewan McGregor as a knight, Stanley Tucci as a royal outcast, and Eddie Marsan as his silly companion. GRADE: C+/B-

Source on TMDB