Jack the Giant Slayer: Movie Review

Jack the Giant Slayer is a fantastic, epic, entertaining twist on the English folktale Jack and the Beanstalk. It stars Nicholas Hoult as Jack, a poor farm boy.

The story opens with Jack stumbling on magical beans that he traded for his uncle’s horse and carriage. Isabelle, the adventure-seeking princess of the kingdom, sneaks out one rainy night to escape the confines of her cloister. She ends up seeking shelter at Jack’s farm. The magical beans spill out of Jack’s pocket, sending Jack’s house along with princess Isabelle skyward toward the dangerous land of the giants between heaven and earth.

What follows is the story of all the king’s men and the unlikely “everyman” farm boy on their quest to save Isabelle from the terrible giants, who have an appetite for human flesh.

Jack the Giant Slayer is a fun, thrilling, Christian fantasy adventure of one man’s quest to save the kingdom, rescue the damsel in distress and face his biggest fears. The movie is directed well and firmly holds the viewer’s attention throughout. Even better, the main characters promote self-sacrifice, bravery, honor and courage during the journey to rescue the princess. There are many Christian allegorical elements, as well as, redemptive scenes of forgiveness, a faith-filled king, queen, princess and monks, and a crown of glory fashioned by the monks.

The movie is rated PG-13 mainly for intense scenes of CGI-animated violence. For example, the giants bite heads off of the humans, giants and humans fall to their deaths from the cliffs and beanstalks, and several violent war scenes occur. Caution is advised, therefore, for younger viewers.

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