Jack the Giant Slayer

Jack the Giant Slayer is currently streaming in Australia on Netflix, and in the UK on HBO Max Amazon Channel and Sky Go, and it earns its premise rather than just borrowing genre trappings. The length is exactly right for the story it is telling — nothing rushed, nothing dragged out. 5,280 viewers have already rated it on TMDB — the kind of consensus that does not happen by accident. Nicholas Hoult sets the tone, and the world-building does the rest. Put it on tonight on Netflix and see for yourself.

Jack the Giant Slayer is not trying to be everything to everyone, and that focus is exactly what makes it work. Jack the Giant Slayer treats its concept seriously enough to follow it all the way through. The story of an ancient war that is reignited when a young farmhand unwittingly opens a gateway between our world and a fearsome race of giants. Unleashed on the Earth for the first time in centuries, the giants strive to reclaim the land they once lost, forcing the young man, Jack into the battle of his life to stop them. Fighting for a kingdom, its people, and the love of a brave princess, he comes face to face with the unstoppable warriors he thought only existed in legend–and gets the chance to become a legend himself. Nicholas Hoult and Eleanor Tomlinson lead a cast that makes the ambitious moments land. It hit screens in 2013. The world-building is meticulous enough to sustain multiple rewatches, with details early on that only make sense later. There is real craft here, even in the moments that do not fully land.

Sci-fi fans who want ideas alongside the spectacle will find Jack the Giant Slayer genuinely rewarding. It stands on its own even without an obvious comparison point. The complete film is available and best experienced without too much prior knowledge of where it goes. Nicholas Hoult grounds the bigger ideas in something human. Once you are in, you will want to talk about it.