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Jack the Giant Slayer: Movie Review

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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.


NOTE from Dr. Ted Baehr, publisher of Movieguide Magazine. For more information from a Christian perspective, order the latest Movieguide Magazine by calling 1-800-899-6684(MOVI) or visit our website at www.movieguide.org. Movieguide is dedicated to redeeming the values of Hollywood by informing parents about today's movies and entertainment and by showing media executives and artists that family-friendly and even Christian-friendly movies do best at the box office year in and year out. Movieguide now offers an online subscription to its magazine version, at www.movieguide.org. The magazine, which comes out 25 times a year, contains many informative articles and reviews that help parents train their children to be media-wise consumers.

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About The Author

MOVIEGUIDE® was founded in 1985 by Dr. Ted Baehr, past president of the Episcopal Radio & Television Foundation and former director of the Television Center at the City University of New York. MOVIEGUIDE® is affiliated with the Christian Film & Television Commission® ministry (CFTVC). Both MOVIEGUIDE® and CFTVC are dedicated to redeeming the values of the entertainment industry, according to biblical principles, by influencing industry executives and artists and by informing and educating the public about the influence of the entertainment media and about how to train their families to become