Taking special effects and sound to a new level Jack the Giant Slayer
entertains with adventure and excitement. The audience for the film
targets teen males to thirties and women who like action films. The
movie will be released on Blu-ray in a special combo pack that includes
the DVD, UltraViolet and a code for a 14 Day XBOX Life Gold Trial on
Tuesday June 18. If you are an adventure film addict and enjoy movies
like Journey to the Center of the Earth or 300 than this movie is your
golden egg.
The story has been played out many times as Jack and
the Beanstalk in children's films with Mickey Mouse and even a comedy
starring Abbott and Costello yet in this movie there's more of a serious
tone. While the beginning does have the typical reading of the book
and a young lad named Jack becoming immersed in the story,double sided tape
it then flashes ahead where we find the grown up Jack (Nicholas Hoult)
taking his horse (substituted for a cow as you will find out why latter
in the movie) to market to bring home the money that will save the farm.
From here the movie gets more adult driven with Jack dropping
into the local pub where the entertainment features a lot of ‘fooling'
around. Here he spots King Brahmwell's (Ian McShane) daughter Isabelle
(Eleanor Tomlinson) being bothered buy some drunk patrons and comes to
her aid. The King's men led by Elmont (Ewan McGregor) arrive and whisk
her away to the castle. Jack leaves the tavern and sells his horse to a
Monk (instead of a peddler as you will see why later in the film) for
some special mysterious beans.
Jack arrives home and his father
gets upset over the beans with one of them dropping through a crack in
the floor. In a rainstorm sometime later he runs into Isabelle who he
brings to his house for shelter. When a drop of water hits the bean that
fell though the floor an astonishing beanstalk grows carrying off
Jack's house with Isabelle with it.
So starts an adventure under
the direction of Bryan Singer who uses some very good 3D CGI techniques
to bring the beanstalk, a sky high country, hordes of marauding giants,
a golden Faberge egg (why Faberge? If you find out, please let me
know), and an amazing amount of castle damage from burning trees, slung
objects, and a tug of war on the castle gates. His film gets violent,
gruesome, but yet nothing extraordinary in this day and age. Jack, along
with Elmont, Isabelle's fiancé Roderick (Stanley Tucci), the bumbling
Wicke (Ewen Bremner) and a number of the King's best climbers start
their journey up a mammoth beanstalk that can give someone with vertigo a
visual challenge.
Singer's choice of talent includes Nicholas
Hoult who worked for him when he produced X-Men: First Class as Beast
and recently starred in the comedy/horror flick Warm Bodies. Hoult
makes Jack smart, protective, clever and attractive enough to catch the
attention of a pretty woman. That's where Eleanor Tomlinson comes in as
the lovely Isabelle. Although she has not built much of a career to
date, she dazzles in Jack the Giant Slayer. Her soft exterior turns
into a boyish rebel when she has to help stand off a two headed giant. I
like her fresh look for the screen and with her starring role in the
upcoming Styria, a fantasy horror flick set to come out this year, we
may be seeing a lot of her in the future.
There are bonus
features with the Blu-ray combo pack that include UltraViolet
capabilities, the DVD and a code for a 14 day Xbox Live Gold free trial.
Other bonus features include:
"Become a Giant Slayer"
Here's a very cool game that you can play by climbing a beanstalk. On
the way up you can choose to see some videos on how scenes were made.
"Gag Reel" A short reel, but fun. I especially liked the cat training session.
"Deleted Scenes"
There's
a very good visual quality to the film played on my 16x9 HD TV. The
special effects and CGI provide terrific giants, huge castles and a
fantastic countryside. The 2.4:1 aspect ratio gives you the whole
theatrical width of the film, but does have bars top and bottom played
on my system.
The sound quality is very vibrant with crystal
clear dialogue and very good special effects. The difference between
using my television's speakers and my upgraded system show little change
except for the surround. Whether you use the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
for the Blu-ray or the 5.1 Dolby Digital on the DVD you should get
nearly the same quality experience with no distortion.
Jack
the Giant Slayer has been rated PG-13 by the MPAA for intense scenes of
fantasy action violence, some frightening images and brief language. Be
cautious when deciding to allow anyone under 13-years-old view the film
without an accompanying parent as it does have some scenes that may be
inappropriate due to some very gruesome visuals.
Click on their website www.sdktapegroup.com/BOPP-tape_c556 for more information.
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