After what seemed like several hours in the theatre, I exited the cinema thinking about the plot of the recently released; Jack The Giant Slayer.
*SPOILER ALERT*
Directed by Bryan Singer, Jack The Giant Slayer is set in the medieval times where Jack a farmboy stumbles upon magic beans while trying to sell off his horse to make ends meet. He meets the princess of the land, who gets caught in the beanstalk as it grows. Jack sets off on a mission to rescue the princess and has an adventure instead which upon his return is crowned a member of the royal family, marries the princess, and lives happily ever after.
Predictable plot? I guess you can say that. While the plot is largely a re-imagined twist on the fairy tale story, I've got to give credit to the fact that it actually portrays women (the princess in this case) as strong and capable alongside men, and not the typical 'damsel in distress' storyline. Cinematography was fantastic too, as seems to be the trend with movies these days. So if you're going to watch this movie in digital, it'd probably be worth the extra dollars.
That aside, i'd like to give a special mention to the character Elmont (played by Ewan McGregor). I think he deserved a whole lot more recognition than what he got in the movie. In the concluding part of the movie, Jack wears a crown that once belonged to "Eric The Great" who was the king of the land, which is able to control the giants and thus sends them back to where they came from. In my honest opinion, Jack shouldn't have been the one wearing the crown. Elmont should have. Here's why.
The character Elmont is immediately portrayed as a noble knight the moment he appears in the movie, fetching the princess back to the castle. Throughout the movie, he is shown to be honest, smart, brave and loyal. He does not die in the movie, despite almost everyone else from the royal family (other than the king and the princess of course) dying. I dunno about you, but it seems to me like his character was built up, just waiting to have that one epic moment where his nobility is immortalized. Instead, that honor went to Jack.
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| Elmont, who doesn't die unlike many others in the movie. |
Jack, as a farm boy, gets recognized by the king midway in the movie when he successfully rescues the princess from the giants. To top it all off, he kills the leader of the giants and saves the kingdom. He's got his glory. Ultimately, he was meant to marry the princess. Yeah, we get that. So all he needs to do is to save the princess, and live happily ever after with her, right? Instead, he carries the burden of becoming the next legacy who sends the giants back. I would still prefer if he was able to NOT have to deal with all that and live a happy life with the princess instead. Elmont should be the one shouldering that title and burden because his character was made to be the noble one. He didn't get any recognition for his nobility, although I presume it was expected of him to be noble. Still, it seems really strange to me that Jack gets the final moment of glory. I guess that a fairy tale for you, don't make much logical sense.
In fact, my friend made a comment about how the entire movie was filled with illogical things (like how come the giants never fell off the edge of their island to meet men before, but only fell when the beanstalk appeared, or how the strength of a few men holding the gates matched with several giants tugging on it).
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| And Jack said he's doesn't do well with heights. Sure Jack, we believe you. I mean, you sure are showing it. |
But nonetheless, the movie is rather interesting because it pays tribute to the orignal fairy tale with its rhymes and setting. I would say, go watch it. Though you probably wont be going twice. Don't take my word for it. See for yourself!
