Jack the Giant Slayer is a fantasy adventure movie that's arguably better than most fairy tale remakes. But that's not saying much. It's just a fun movie puffed-up with spectacular visual effects and a bland storyline.
Jack (Nicholas Hoult) is a farm boy who accidentally opens a path to the world of giants, and he has to save Princess Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson) and the whole kingdom from the dangers that he had unlocked in the first place. X-Men director Bryan Singer keeps the adventure fast-paced with a few key-scenes above ground, and an uninspiring battle scene mostly spent on humans defending the castle from the giants.
Lord Roderick (Stanley Tucci) is the typical medieval antagonist: Someone who wants to take over the throne, and he happens to have the magical artifact made of material sacred to the giants, and he uses this to rule the horde. Though there are some humans victimized by the giants, the bone-crunching violence is toned down for the teenage audience; this is much milder than Hansel and Gretel: Witchhunters.
Fallon- The two-headed giant leader
Ewan McGregor charmingly plays the role of Elmont, a gallant leader of the king's guard who's as action-figury as the whole cast. Little is said about the legend of the giants, so don't even bother asking about the characters' personal backgrounds. The movie is straight up: humans get kidnapped, some pawns get slayed, and some pawns (Yes, Jack is a pawn!) do the slaying, and the kingdom is saved, the end, but no...Let's do the something that may suggest a sequel, the script says, but who cares? Even the romance is dry. It's as if they added a princess for the sake of quest. Sure, the visual effects are impressive, the kind you would see in The Hobbit, but this movie is just a circus with a soft bang: fun and fast-paced, there are some cool videogame-like visual effects, and the actors are good at being the characters they're supposed to be --Flat, and...and...that's it. And how much did it cost to create a spectacle this shallow? Ah! Only $198 Million. 
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