Jack the Giant Slayer

For almost 200 million to make a yawn like that is also an art in its own right. It is practically free of Singer’s dominance, because the film is subject to the total dictatorship of the green screen, which makes the whole thing look like The Prince and the Evening Star: Robert Zemeckis Cut. The enormity of the budget makes it clear how the production underestimated the energy drink consumption of the special effects studio staff (16 of them worked on this – effects studios, not staff), whereas the likes of Neill Blomkamp might have been able to take over the galaxy with similar resources. For real. And then the sporadic quality of the special effects was interesting, as I've seen rendered videos for PC games that looked considerably better. Peter Jackson had hundreds of people create masks, animatronic puppets, and location models, which were then post-produced by other people again; Brian Singer stood in front of a hundred and fifty chubby graphic designers, saying "I want those giants to conquer that city and the humans will win in the end. Wake me up when you get it," and went to check his account balance. And that's why this world is so fucked up. (3 stars because the giants conquer the city and the people win in the end) (03/07/2013)

Wannabe Stardust. A wacky fantasy fairytale with no lightness or humor, not to speak of the chemistry between the central duo. And although it’s pretty hard for the above reasons, in the end it’s more or less watchable. The crowning stupidity of this is, however, that although the movie ends after running for an hour and a half, instead of the final credits a forcibly grafted on half-hour of fight mayhem takes off and it’s... massively unbearable (and I found Jack similarly unbearable too). (11/06/2013)

Jack The Giant Slayer is an absolutely (but absolutely) archetypal fantasy film that replicates overseas productions of recent years in almost every way. A cast of mostly well-known and lesser-known actors, a slightly predictable script (although that little trip to the present day made me happy), and a ton of visual effects that, unfortunately for all of us, look really sloppy and totally inauthentic in places, which is quite striking with a budget of just under 200 million dollars. Of the acting ensemble, I was most impressed by Ewan McGregor and Ewen Bremner. It wasn't that bad a film, except maybe I was expecting something more, something new, but so be it. In short, a film that stands out for how immediately mediocre it is (16/08/2013)

A fantastic fairy tale - fantastic in terms of genre and in processing. Bryan Singer clearly played with the giants and filmed them in such a way as to make the younger part of the audience tense and the older ones entertained. It succeeded in both thanks to likable actors (Stanley Tucci is wonderfully devious, Nicholas Hoult can be suffered), a balanced screenplay that thankfully knows what perspective is (it's not as blatantly dark as, say, Snow White and the Huntsman), a reasonable runtime and, last but not least, amazing special effects. The epilogue must convince everyone that Jack the Giant Slayer was created mainly to entertain us and its creators. (24/08/2014)

Sure, modern technology can work wonders, and thanks to it, film special effects have reached an incredibly high level. This fairy tale has a solid budget and therefore is capable of offering a spectacular spectacle. Moreover - and I find this appealing - it is not affected by that overly sweet Disney style. It can be dark and at times it even crosses the line into the horror genre. On the other hand, if you compare Jack the Giant Slayer to the successful film Stardust, you quickly notice Jack's weaknesses. It lacks lightness, functional humor, and the charisma of the characters. What troubles Jack the most is the lack of chemistry between the main protagonists and, above all, the painful casting mistake in the role of Jack. Overall impression: 55%. (30/09/2015)