Jack the Giant Slayer

The latest in a long, mostly unsuccessful line of revisionary fairy tale adaptations, Jack the Giant Slayer is a half-hearted affair, filled with lacklustre performances and an over-dependence on CGI. Expanding on the classic story, the giants are hoping to restart the war they waged against the humans. Jack (Nicholas Hoult) is nobly trying to save Princess Isabelle, while the king's (secretly evil) advisor Roderick (Stanley Tucci) just wants power.

As the bland, unflappable knight Elmont, Ewan McGregor is, ironically, the film's only charismatic character; Jack himself is utterly forgettable, while his romance with the princess is predictable and perfunctory. Although the giants fart, belch, and pick their noses, this is a humourless film that takes itself far too seriously – at least Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters was aware of its stupidity. The felling of the beanstalk is – especially in 3D – a dynamic set piece, but it is too little to elevate the film to anything more than mundanity. [Becky Bartlett]