I recently managed to convince a somewhat reluctant friend to go see Jack the Giant Slayer with me. Though that friend enjoyed herself and offered praise such as “actually an okay movie” amongst other contortions to avoid actually saying she liked it, I hold no such reservations. It was a good movie and I liked it.
I mean, the script was rather corny in parts, but it tied together a lot of the different aspects of various Jack and the Beanstalk legends in an enjoyable story. The cast was solid and suitably over-the-top when called for, and it was refreshing to see a fantasy story where the king (Ian McShane) was not corrupt or evil and the captain of the guard (Ewan McGregor) was actually competent at his job. The chemistry between Jack (Nicholas Hoult) and the Princess Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson) was believable, and I liked that neither of them was played as stupid. While the plot was set into motion by some unfortunate coincidences, it did not rely on the main characters acting like idiots to keep it going.
All of which is to say this was not a brilliant piece of filmmaking, but simply a well-done movie. It didn’t blow my mind or anything, but it didn’t disappoint or dissatisfy, either, and in this day and age I consider that a major accomplishment.