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December 31, 2013.

This blog is now closed. After three years and 311 posts, I have decided to end this blog. I have enjoyed watching the films, reviewing them, and interacting with global readers.

If you are interested in contacting me, you can do so by commenting on any of the posts. The blog will remain live on the web.
Thank you to all the readers for your comments, ideas, and thoughts. They were helpful, stimulating, and enriching. This is Alene, signing off.

March 29, 2013

Jack the Giant Slayer - 3D (2013)

When it's over, Fee Fye Foe Fumm, the giants, here they come. The giants get a bad wrap. They're unmannerly, uncivilized, and ill-tempered, and the kids will love their grossly bad habits, including their booger-eating and flatulent ways. But despite their unruly persona, they are the main attraction in this fractured fairy tale about a farm boy named Jack (Nicholas Hoult), who accidentally opens the doorway between two worlds. The special effects on the giants are wonderful  and believable in a mythical sort of way. I like how each giant has their own distinct personality, making them relatable on a human level despite their size and barbarity. There is a princess, a king, knights, and a love story that inevitably ends happily every after. There isn't much character development, but that doesn't seem to hurt the overall entertainment value. The story offers enough info about each character, including the giants, for the viewer to know who represents what in the context of the story, such as the comic relief, the baddie who gets what he deserves, the king's loyal subject, the defiant one, the trader, the ambitious one,  etc. It is standard fairy tale fare, where the story is completely linear and requires no deep pondering. There is plenty of action to propel the story forward, while amassing a large body count, including humans being eaten, but all of it is shown without any graphic detail or blood. I would consider this a family adventure film, but do not recommend it for very young viewers.

My rating: 3.5 out of 5  







2 comments:

  1. For what the movie's worth, the movie has cool action, visuals, and a fun feel that hardly ever goes away. Good review Alene.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Dan.

      What did you think about the crown being hidden in the royal museum? Nice set up for a sequel, however, I don't know if present day would be as magical a story.

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