Jack the Giant Slayer

It’s not good when in the afternoon you go to the cinema for a similar digital fairytale Maleficent and in the evening, you watch a year older but digitally not any worse movie Jack the Giant Slayer. However, it is apparent that Jack is a little sloppy. Not digitally, it probably isn’t even possible, but rather in the story itself. The most distinct one is Ewan McGregor, who is a supporting character and that is suspicious. While the two hours watching it were nicely spent, unlike Maleficent, I probably won’t watch this fairytale again. (11.06.2014)

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. (25.08.2014)

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)

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)

The reason for the high rating is really simple: I got about ten times more fun than I had dared to expect. Singer is a director with capital D, and this easygoing fantasy adventure flourishes under his hands as admirably as his comic book flicks (X-Men) or dark crime flicks (The Usual Suspects), and I had as much fun watching it as I've had with Hollywood fantasy in a long time. A very, very good and imaginative script, a straightforward narrative, an enchanting, almost fairy-tale atmosphere and a generally likeable cast (perhaps only Hoult is a bit too "plankish"), all in perfect balance and of course complemented by great visual effects, which are the main thing here:-) A perfect diversion for adults and (except for a few moments) for their older kids. 85% (26.06.2013)