Jack the Giant Slayer
2013  PG-13  FANTASY  1h 54min
CAST— Nicholas Hoult, Eleanor Tomlinson, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Ian McShane
MUSIC— John Ottman  DIRECTOR— Bryan Singer

     Jack and the Beanstalk is re-imagined in this CG-laden bore fest. A monk entrusts a young lad named Jack with several magic beans, who is warned not to get them wet. And then they get wet, which causes a gigantic beanstalk to grow sky high. Jack and an adventure-seeking princess are caught in the middle of this phenomenon, the princess riding the stalk skyward, where it ends up in a land of giants. Meanwhile Jack joins a royal rescue party intent on saving the princess. And so on and so forth. Not even remotely interesting, this is a sorry excuse for a fantastical adventure. With CGI that fails to impress and a story that fails to deliver this may not even interest undemanding kids. Not even worthy of a “don’t know Jack” joke. Final note: remains family friendly until the third act, which becomes unconvincingly violent (though still uninteresting).
OUR RATING— * ½