REVIEW:
Jack the Giant Slayer
3 flamers
2013 Warner Bros. Directed by Bryan Singer. Running time:154 minutes. PG 13. Starring Nicholas Hoult, Eleanor Tomlinson, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Ian McShane.
Mathew: So, I don't know why this movie was such a big flop. I enjoyed it.
Helm: Technically, it appears to have been a big flop because very few people actually saw it in relation to how much it cost to make. I have read that it cost nearly $200 million and drew only $28 million in its opening weekend. So, flop.
Mathew: Duh. I meant, I don't get why so few people went to see it. It was fun.
Helm: I agree.
Mathew: I mean, it had cool giants biting dudes heads off...
Helm: Check.
Mathew: More than once. There was a substantial amount of head-biting-off. And the actors all seemed pretty committed to their roles...
Helm: Check.
Mathew: Like Ewan McGregor. His Elmont character was funny and kinda awesome! Also, there was some nice fight action...
Helm: Check.
Mathew: Totally dug the big battle. And there were some funny lines...
Helm: Check.
Mathew: "Why do people bother screaming right before they die?" That line killed me. So I don't get it! What didn't people like about this movie?
Helm: Ian McShane's ridiculous helmet? How clean all the peasants were? The gratuitously ambiguous final sequence? The lack of investment in the ancillary characters?
Mathew: Okay, sure... but that stuff is all just minor stuff. It's "who gives a crap" stuff. I mean, the story was a pretty good re-imagining of the Jack and the Bean Stalk story, it was pretty well paced, it wasn't too gross, but it wasn't too tame...
Helm: Perhaps the film suffered from being not too anything?
Mathew: I guess.
Helm: Did you love it?
Mathew: No, but I liked it.
Helm: As did I. Would you recommend it?
Mathew: Sure. I mean, yeah... I guess.
Helm: And there is the weakness. It was pretty good. It was pretty enjoyable. It was a solid bit of entertainment. But did it mean anything?
Mathew: What?
Helm: Did it mean anything, or was it just about what was happening on the screen at the moment it was happening on the screen.
Mathew: Dude. Are you being deep?
Helm: A little. But answer the question. Did the movie move you or just entertain you?
Mathew: Fine. I concede the point.
Helm: It wasn't like Scott Pilgrim or Kick Ass.
Mathew: Yeah. Got it.
Helm: Or Toy Story 3, or even Cabin in the Woods...
Mathew: Enough. I get it. Point made. Let's just rate the thing.
Three Flaming Swords!!
Three Flaming Swords!!
Mathew: I still think it should have done better.
Helm: That is exactly how I feel about you.