Review: JACK THE GIANT SLAYER

It was supposed to come out last summer. I remember seeing an early trailer maybe a year ago and it looked good. Bryan Singer was directing, usually a guy that doesn't make popcorn crap (he was, after all, the director that turned Superman into Jesus and added Auschwitz to The X-Men). So I was intrigued. And then the film was bumped, lost, forgotten. And a new date, March of 2012, was announced. And the obvious reasons burst forth; time to finish the special f/x, tweak it, bring it out without summer blockbuster competition, etc. And the fans had their own ideas of why it was bumped; the movie sucked, was a mess, major editing needed to be done, the thing is doomed, etc. So here it is, doomed to be a box office disaster (thanks to Oz, the Great & Powerful coming out next weekend), practically limping into theaters like a sick homeless child at your door begging for kindness.
And it's actually a pretty good movie, albeit it's for children, most of the special f/x suck, the 3-D is pointless, it's fluff and dumb, but it is entertaining, it features a pretty princess, and there are some very good sequences here. Everyone hated Singer's last picture, Valkyrie, but I enjoyed it. And while I wasn't a big fan of his take on Superman or The X-Men, the guy does have a knack at providing entertainment. Jack the Giant Slayer is a fun romp. It has a stellar cast; Ewan McGregor, Ian McShane, Stanley Tucci, Nicholas Hoult. And while a hefty majority of the film is played for childish laughs, there are some well crafted and good looking scenes here. The most memorable is the first sight of one of the giants. I don't need to tell you the story of "Jack & the Bean Stalk," right? Well this film is that story but with more than one giant. Once Jack is up there and we hear the foot steps shaking the earth and see the trees swaying and the animals fleeing and it's raining and misty and we're going to finally see the giant...it's suspenseful stuff, very well filmed. Granted, this is one scene in a two hour film, and eventually we get an over-the-top battle down below, but it's all fun, entertaining, and not as bad as you probably thought or wished. Now Singer, it's time to stop playing in the sandbox and make me proud with X-Men: Days of Future Past. **1/2