Jack the Giant Slayer (2013)
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A young farmhand must embark on a perilous journey to save a captured princess from a race of man-eating giants.
The story
In the Kingdom of Cloister, monks craft magic beans that grow into a massive beanstalk reaching Gantua, the home of man-eating giants. After the giants attack the Earth, a magical crown is used to force them back. Years later, a peasant named Jack accidentally acquires the remaining magic beans from a fleeing monk. When the beans are watered, they grow into a beanstalk that lifts Princess Isabelle into the sky. Jack volunteers to join a team of knights led by Captain Elmont and the treacherous Lord Roderick to retrieve her from the giants' land.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In the Kingdom of Cloister, monks craft magic beans that grow into a large beanstalk reaching Gantua, home to man-eating giants. After the giants attack Earth, King Erik uses a magical crown to force them back. Years later, a peasant named Jack trades his horse for the remaining magic beans. When the beans are watered, they grow into a beanstalk that lifts Princess Isabelle into the sky. Jack joins a team of knights led by Captain Elmont and the treacherous Lord Roderick to rescue her. During the climb, Roderick sabotages the knights. At Gantua, Roderick uses the crown to command the giants to conquer the world. Jack frees Isabelle and Elmont, while Elmont kills Roderick. The beanstalk is cut down, and the trio escapes. Later, the two-headed giant Fallon takes the crown and uses the remaining beans to grow more beanstalks to invade the kingdom. Jack and Isabelle are captured by Fallon. Jack throws the last bean down Fallon's throat, causing a beanstalk to grow inside him and rip him apart. Jack uses the crown to stop the giants. The film ends with Jack and Isabelle marrying, their story becoming a fairy tale, and the crown being crafted into St Edward's Crown.
- Original title
- Jack the Giant Killer
- First release year
- 2013
- Runtime (minutes)
- 114
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Bryan Singer
- Writers
- Darren Lemke · screenplay; Christopher McQuarrie · screenplay; Dan Studney · screenplay; Darren Lemke · story; David Dobkin · story
- Cast and characters
- Nicholas Hoult · Jack; Eleanor Tomlinson · Princess Isabelle; Stanley Tucci · the king's advisor; Ian McShane · King Brahmwell; Bill Nighy · Fallon (big head); Ewan McGregor · leader of the king's elite guard
- Genres
- fantasy adventure; monster; sword and sorcery
- Themes
- coming of age; heroism; good vs evil
- Tone and mood
- adventure; fantasy; action
- Premise and plot tags
- fairy tale; giants; magic beans; quest
- Source material / true-story basis
- Jack the Giant Killer and Jack and the Beanstalk
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics and was a box-office failure, struggling to appeal to both children and adults.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 52% · review count: 208; Metacritic · score: 51 · scale: 100 · review count: 37; CinemaScore · score: B+ · scale: A to F
- Production trivia
- The film was originally titled Jack the Giant Killer.; The beanstalk was inspired by the same forest that is said to have inspired J. R. R. Tolkien to write The Hobbit.; The film's visual effects were completed by seven different visual effects houses.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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