Jack the giant slayer

The dark re-imagining of classic fairy-tales has become a bizarre trend of recent cinema, all sharing the unfortunate traits of inconsistent tones and overall mediocrity. The newest of the bunch is Jack the giant slayer, hoping to scrub off the naff fairy-tale stereotype with its reimagining of the tale ‘Jack and the beanstalk’ by possessing an intelligently advanced narrative and militant towering giants.

  With an imaginative and accomplished tale acting as the baseline plot, Jack the giant slayer does a brilliant job in making the story fresh and original providing an intelligent twist in the tale. Hollywood influence may have given the story an air of predictability throwing in a king, a princess, a blatant villain and the ‘average Joe’ underdog as Jack, however this shows to coagulate with the original tale feeling like a warm and assuring bedtime story. Taking a while to find its feet we find ourselves procrastinating in the human kingdom of Cloister for perhaps a little too long as Jack is introduced, to instant appeal, and the plot is set in stone as the familiar tale plays out with Jack’s purchase of the magic beans. Soon enough once the princess spontaneously and coincidentally

 turns up on Jacks door on a thunderous evening, the bean fertilises and reveals the stories anchor of the beanstalk behemoth as the princess is unwillingly pulled along with it, prompting a rescue.

Once the realistically laborious task of reaching the top is achieved, we are introduced to the giant’s kingdom and the dirty, disgusting giants themselves. Despite aesthetically looking like CGI blobs the giants act in a way which is playful and dumb without being childish and terrifying, providing a handful of laughs as well as moments of surprising disgust. Unlike the dark twist in other recent fairy-tale adaptations, this gritty feature in Jack the giant slayer works to excellent effect acting as a necessary and relevant asset to the story. Marked with a 12A certificate, the violence consistently pushes the boundaries feeling surprisingly grim at times as the knight’s gallop from bloodthirsty giants, ripping bystander’s heads off and discarding their bodies as trash. This however never feels out of place, like an overactive childish imagination nothing is beyond violent reason. This does not excuse however the bombardment of whimsical dialogue that is spoken from the mouths of these stereotypical yet enticing characters. No child let alone adult audience member wants to witness a statement of love to one another as Jack and the princess descend the tumbling beanstalk before they nonsensically and unnecessarily swing to safety on a vine. Scenes such as this one appear sporadically throughout the film momentarily disrupting the even tone for something more undeniably idiotic.

 Jack the giant slayer should certainly not be compared to its dismal cinematic fairy-tale counterparts proving to be far more original and creative in its narrative, paving the way for a thoroughly enjoyable family romp. Its chances of success are squandered by a perhaps expected whimsical shroud of dialogue and slap-stick scenes of action, however this doesn't distract from the heavily immersive and entertaining story at hand.

6.5/10- A simple yet delightful twist on the classic tale.

Calum Russell

Compliance

It’s a difficult feat to make a film which is a cinematic immersion whilst also being an informative speech to audiences, perhaps the most poignant film to have done this is the shocking ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ which in some ways Compliance attempts to replicate, but unfortunately falls short.  

Based on the disturbingly incredible true story, Compliance tells the story of a prank caller who rings up a fast food store and convinces the manager to interrogate a young innocent employee. As the ‘severity’ of the situation grows, events transpire to startling extents to the point of utter discomfort. If it wasn't for this films ‘true story’ element little would be foraged in the rubble to credit it, however as we are reminded at the start with pacey subtitles that ‘nothing has been exaggerated’ the film thrills to shock and disgust the audience showing  the extent society  goes to to conform to authority. The story may not have been exaggerated however no one can justify the speed and intensity that occurs in this film to transition to real events. With the films rapid pace working both for and against it, Compliance feels more like a reconstruction on ‘crimewatch’ rather than the tense drama that it should be and is for a minority of the films 90 minutes running time. The film almost becomes laughable at times when one wonders why quite so much dramatic classical music must be played whilst experiencing the frying of chips behind the scenes of the fast food chain, becoming so dramatized it often felt like fiction.

It seems as though Compliance becomes so caught up in its own gloriously disturbing narrative that it simply forgets its aims instead focusing on the heavily uncomfortable events at hand. This leads to an ending which is not only disappointingly unexplained but also carries the tone of a ‘secondary school’ lecture on the dangers of society, feeling totally out of place acting as an unnecessary signpost to the blatant message. At least however the message is present and poignant being so bizarre it grips doing an admirable job in maintaining suspense even in similar scenes of repeated discomfort. This is helped by the brilliant acting of the two main protagonists, the boss and employee, played by Ann Dowd and Dreama Walker who bind the plot together giving the cinematic realism that a narrative, so delicate as this, desperately deserves.

 Although Compliance is an achievement on a number of levels it works more as a satisfying (if hugely unsettling) view into the rusty working cogs of society rather than a pleasing and well-rounded cinematic experience. Being such an unbelievable yet interesting true story this film would've been more engrossing in a documentary format where the psychological study of Conformity could be analysed and implemented on the fascinating story of Compliance.

6/10- Grips initially but falls flat with an unhelpful climax.

Calum Russell

Mama

Despite Guillermo Del Toro producing a handful of notable horror success, the majority of his work (although insidiously stylised) almost inevitably become destined for the ‘bargain bucket’; and with an odd advertising ploy many would mistake him for the director of his newly produced film, Mama.  Based on the deeply unsettling properties of the short film, Mama follows the tale of two young girls found after years of living in the woods being protected by a ghostly figure, as there’re adopted into their uncle’s life. Del Toro’s print proves to be prominent throughout as a dark, unusual tale sustains horror for the minority of the film until ‘Mama’ is introduced and things get embarrassingly laughable.

Starting effectively showing the beginnings of the sinister relationship between the children and their newly claimed (but sparingly seen) ‘Mama’, the film manages to maintain audience interest through the actions of the soon feral and seemingly possessed children. After through tests and psychological examinations there’re soon shown to their uncle and aunt who take on the ambitious task of attempting to control them, as events transpire and horror ensues. This is until a notable moment where the uncle and most probably the director is hit on the head and idiocy follows. After a good third of the film chilled the spine, turned the thinking cogs and put the viewer off having children for a good few hours, the film totally falls apart with plot strands failing to connect and scenes of horror failing to scare. The desperate attempts to anchor the film down made by the performances of both the unsettling children as well as auntie and uncle (Chastain and Coster-Waldau) had been quelled by the pitiful attempts of the poorly constructed, laughable appearance CGI disgrace that is ‘Mama’.

With ‘Mama’ being the source of this films horror it came with great disappointment as well as unintended hilarity to see her being revealed in full frequently throughout the film. Once she was shown she no longer was a character of horror instead becoming a tiresome tool of consistent ‘jump-scares’ that never fail to momentarily scare yet always prove to be monotonously predictable. With her appearance also came the spark setting of a chain of totally nonsensical plot lines that seemingly lead to an inevitable twist which unfortunately never comes as plots pathetically sizzle out of sight. This soon leads to the conclusion which shows to follow in disappointing suite being nonsensical, idiotic and frustratingly sentimental. Consisting of a supposedly ‘terrifying’ CGI being, and a shroud of bizarre sentimentality, Mama’s conclusion feels dismally underwhelming and moronic, providing a raw tasting ‘icing’ on an already fowl tasting ‘cake’.

 For a film based on such a horrifying and unsettling premise, Mama shows to be quite the opposite displaying more style than substance giving the undesired Hollywood touch of overused CGI, pathetic story arcs and typical ‘jump-scares’. Rarely did the tension reach unbearable heights, despite their being some moments of originality, and ultimately this films intriguing premise is destroyed by its only horror device, a 5 foot, hovering CGI mother.

4/10- The stubborn, tame, irritating and fake attributes of Mama makes this an ugly sight.

Calum Russell