Jack the Giant Slayer

(M) Roadshow DVD/BD and Digital Download

Perhaps the biggest surprise of this fairytale reboot is that it is directed by none other than Bryan Singer, who it has to be said, has had meatier films to make.

Perhaps the other disappointment of this slight flick is that its core audience, I am assuming here they would be 10-12 year olds given the subject matter are given short shrift by the rating. Granted it is grittier — more in the style of last years Snow White and the Huntsman via Lord of the Rings — but the substance of the fairytale remains the same, that Jack must battle the hulking giants to save the day.

Ably abbetted by the hammy Ewan MacGregor (who is almost baked in a giant oven with some pork in one scene) young star Nicholas Hoult is the titular Jack.

With some genuinely scary scenes of peril, this is recommended for mid-teens. The beanstalk tale has always struck as a tale with not so much as a moral as a disclaimer: if you go to town to buy a cow, make sure you come back with one.

Excellent CGI rounds out an oddly entertaining romp.

Adrian Drayton