Jack the Giant Slayer

Jack the Giant Slayer is the latest in the current spate of big budget live action fairy tails. In this case, it is a spruced up, modern day take on the popular Grimm folktale of Jack and the Beanstalk, which fully embraces the spirit of magic and adventure which is key to any fairy story.

Our hero Jack (Nicholas Hoult) is a simple and naive young farm boy who unwittingly opens the gateway into the kingdom of flesh eating giants after he trades his horse for some magic beans. Unsurprisingly, the beans sprout into a huge beanstalk which shoots right up into the stratosphere - defying the laws of physics, and indeed biology - sweeping Jack’s house into the sky along with the rather unfortunate Princess Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson) who is trapped inside. Jack bravely volunteers to accompany the gallant and comical Elmont (Ewan McGregor), and Isabelle’s shifty, rather unwelcome fiancé Lord Roderick (Stanely Tucci), on a perilous journey to rescue the Princess from the clutches of the Giants, lead by the colossal Fallon (Bill Nighy). The team must climb the beanstalk into the Giants’ Kingdom where they face fearsome giants with a taste for human flesh and extremely poor hygiene - their toenails alone are the stuff of nightmares! The ancient war between men and giants is reignited and it is left to Jack to prevent a terrible fate befalling mankind.

From Bryan Singer, director of X-Men, with some impressive visuals and computer-generated imagery, this film is like an illustrated storybook come to life. It is light, entertaining and full of fun, with some exciting fight scenes and clever writing - certainly worth a look!

Jacqueline Gill