Coyote Cinema: Jack the Giant Slayer

[cyrano]

Bryan Singer, with whom I regularly get along, and a workhorse cast including Stanley Tucci, Bill Nighy, Ian F. McShane, Ewan MacGregor--and who can't love Hattie Gotobed? This movie kept exceeding expectations and then getting comfortable instead of stretching and being awesome. I loved the king and the captain of the guard, but I wanted *more* from them. The giants are viewed by the people as black black kitten eating bad guys, and while the movie gives us hints that there are Scotsmen under that caricature, it never treats them as actual people. The script passes the Bechdel Test by the skin of its teeth--the first scene is a lovely parallel of the princess and the pauper being read the tale of King Eric the Great by respective parents (who both die before Scene 2), and there's not another female character in the film. The princess is seeking adventure on her own, but never gets a moment to be capable. And there were too many moments when I shook my hands at the screen and said "Why you so stupid?" It didn't even serve plot, it just irritated me.

Okay, looking back, I've hit a lot of the low points, but I enjoyed this movie a lot. It was fun, it made me laugh (even if one of those times was MacGregor saying "I have a bad feeling about this..." which was unforgivable), and the princess isn't just an object to require rescue and motivate male characters. Its crime was being good enough to make me want better. But when the king consigns his daughter to death for the good of the kingdom, against every standard 'good guy' trope, I knew I was going to love this film.

So yes, four wags. With popcorn.


Also? What has been seen cannot be unseen. Guillermo del Toro brings you "Transformers versus Godzilla". Because Shut the hell up, that's why.