Jack and the Beanstalk (2010) Review-Written By Kelsey Zukowski

Starring: Colin Ford, Chloe Moretz, Gilbert Godfrey, Katey Segal, Christopher Lloyd, Chevy Chase, James Earl Jones
Directed By: Gary J. Tunnicliffe
Written By: Flip Kobler, Cindy Marcus
Grade: B

Jack and the Beanstalk follows the traditional story and doesn’t offer any massive changes in the viewpoint, but tries to modernize a few things and give it a somewhat creative spin. There’s a lot of comedy in the jokes about all of the fairy tale creations involved in the movie, all living in the same world. We also get a few modernizations such as a C.O.W. video game rather than a cow itself that Jack sells.

Jack (Ford) constantly fantasizes about being a hero and saving a damsel in distress. He believes his father was a hero even though everyone else thinks he was just a failure who left and never came back, leaving Jack’s mom (Segal) to care for Jack herself. As much as he wants to be a hero, he doesn’t seem to be able to. Jack is currently failing fairy tale school and if he can’t get proof of committing a heroic deed, his teacher (Lloyd) will fail him in Heroics class. Jack goes to the pawn shop to sell his most valuable possession, his C.O.W. video game, for beans. When he comes home he learns that his mother lost her job and they will only have enough money for food to survive if they sell his C.O.W. game.

When Grayson (Godfrey), the goose, turns part human, Jack realizes that they were magic beans. Jack goes on a quest to save Destiny from the giant (Jones). She was turned in to a harp years ago when she refused to sing for the giant with an evil spell. Many have tried to save Destiny before but all have failed, getting lost in the puzzles and mysteries that the quest holds. Along the way his story is magically being written in the book, capturing his story as it happens. Soon he meets Jillian (Moretz), who looks exactly like the damsel in distress in his fantasies. She helps them get to Destiny’s harp despite Grayson’s lack of trust and suspicions of her being a villain with a pretty face.

Overall, the performances were pretty good. It shouldn’t be any surprise that Gilbert Godfrey wasn’t one of the best though. It’s just that shrill, annoying voice of his, but it actually worked pretty well here since he was playing a goose. His gawkiness actually worked in his favor for once despite a few annoying instances. Katey Segal isn’t bad as Jack’s mother, but she definitely has a few moments of melodramatic acting that is slightly laughable. Colin Ford did well enough as Jack, nothing particularly notable about the performance but it worked. Chloe Moretz as Jillian was a joy to watch, carrying herself with great screen presence and charm. She played the role of the damsel in Jack’s imagination but I liked how she seized the role of the hero. Most know her best as Tom’s little but wise sister in 500 Days of Summer. Between the two performances she shows a lot of charisma, spark, and great potential. She is someone I hope to continue seeing in the future and with roles in Kick-Ass and Let Me In, the American remake of Let The Right One In, it seems as if this is just the start for her . Christopher Lloyd as the Heroics teacher was one of the better performances along with Chevy Chase as the “opposite day” guard, both exerting their signature energy and style in to the roles.

I really enjoyed the opening to the movie the most, it played around with fairy tales and put them all in to one world. Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Prince Charming, and the ugly stepsisters are a few of Jack’s classmates. He sees a naked emperor walking down the street, claiming he is weary some snazzy new clothes. Jack’s mom claims she got fired since elves were coming in to shoemaker’s shop at night and finishing all the work, making for very cheap labor. In order to get some food, Jack grabs the weird kids who were throwing breadcrumbs around, leaving Hansel and Gretel lost again. There were a few jokes that didn’t work so well such as the sergeants Who, What, and Where, thinking Jack’s mom is talking about their names when asking questions. Also when Gilbert Godfrey’s character assumes it is opposite day, the language gets really complex and there are a lot of double negatives. This is the point, but in both instances, the joke carries on for a little too long and falls short. Overall, Jack and the Beanstalk is a fun family film with a few new twists to the story.