This fantasy is slow to get going, but once Nicholas Hoult's plucky Jack has started scaling the fabled beanstalk his quest is packed with thrills and humour
This fantasy is slow to get going, but once Nicholas Hoult's plucky Jack has started scaling the fabled beanstalk his quest is packed with thrills and humour.
In this version of the fairy-tale, though, the hero's stalk-climbing mission is a joint effort.
Joining Jack is dashing knight Ewan McGregor, feisty princess Eleanor Tomlinson and sly villain Stanley Tucci, all of whom encounter a whole race of sky-dwelling giants.
With Tucci gleefully hamming it up, McGregor showing posh sang-froid and Bill Nighy supplying grotesque comedy as the giants' two-headed leader, it's the supporting cast who are full of beans, rather than the somewhat overshadowed young leads.
Despite the impressive CGI and motion-capture effects, the story is a bit clunky, but it does provide reliable family-friendly entertainment, as well as the unmissable sight of McGregor rolled up in pastry by a snot-dripping giant chef.
