Jack the Giant Killer Directed by: Bryan Singer Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci Rating: Not Yet Rated Release Date: June 15, 2012
TRAILER SCORE: 5/10
Thoughts by TSR: I’m always interested to hear an audience’s reaction to trailers at the movie theater. Now, where I’m from people don’t react much, so when they do I take notice. Usually it’s simply hushed whispers of recognition – like for The Dark Knight Rises trailer – but sometimes they react in a way I can’t imagine the filmmaker hoped for. That’s what happened when I saw this trailer for Jack the Giant Killer. Instead of excitement, the title coming onscreen at the end was met with a mixture of laughter and groaning.
The groaning is understandable. The recent glut of fairy tale reimaginings – from TV’s “Grimm” and “Once Upon a Time” to the pair of upcoming Snow White films and more – is starting to feel tired, and it hasn’t even hit its stride yet.
The laughter is something I think speaks to one of the trailer’s larger issues: the tone feels odd. At times it looks like a fun, lighthearted adventure – and the title design seems to fit with that – but the way the trailer is put together makes it feel like they’re going for a cool, Zack Snyder-esque thing. Hopefully the film knows what it wants to be and this is simply a case of the marketing not being clear.
All that said, the trailer does have a few redeeming factors. The supporting cast is strong, and I like the way Ewan McGregor says, “Once darkness gets a taste for light… it will not stop.” Visually the footage looks solid as well. From the costumes, to the beanstalk eruption and the burning trees being hurled over the wall, there are some good things here.
Even though I’m not overly impressed, I’m still curious to see how this turns out. My interest is waning, however, so I hope by June they do something to convince me that Jack the Giant Killer will be able to stand out from the pack.