
Director Bryan Singer (
X-Men) takes a turn waving an action-movie magic wand over yet another big-screen fairy tale reboot, aggressively renamed
Giant Slayer (in lieu of
Beanstalk). Comely Jack (Nicholas Hoult) goes adventuring in ye olde hoodie, encountering Princess Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson), a knight (Ewan McGregor) and a sneering villain (Stanley Tucci). He climbs a towering plant, in spite of not being "wildly keen on heights," and battles a tribe of scaly CGI giants, one with two heads like Zaphod Beeblebrox voiced by the peerless Bill Nighy. Tucci and McGregor are diverting and seem to be enjoying themselves. Isabelle, not as pretty as Jack, is rather a dud; the role demands the fire of a young Helena Bonham Carter. There's some witty banter, and the epic battle doesn't take too long. The wheel has not been reinvented.
By
Laura Boyes