It's almost spring time. A time for new beginnings, a fresh start, and for the film industry that gray period before the summer box office hits begin siphoning money out of our pockets. It's safe to say that during this time of year, no one expects anything spectacular to come from the big screen and Jack The Giant Slayer - out now - is no exception. 

The film, like its predecessors (Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, Mirror, Mirror, Snow White & The Huntsman, etc.) offers a twist on a classic fairytale read to us in our early childhood. However, this so-called fairytale fails to live up to the whimsicality of its print version.

In a standard movie opening, we learn about the tense history between the giants and the human race told to the audience like a bed time story, while at the same time being recounted to a young Jack (Michael Self) and a young Princess Isabelle (Sydney Rawson). It tells a tale from long ago, of monks wanting to reach heaven and instead finding something much worse. The film immediately points out to us that this is not the bedtime story we heard as children.

Once the discovery of the human race was made by the giants--thanks to the beanstalk grown by the monks--they began to develop a taste for human things: livestock, money, and after smelling it, an appetite for human flesh. After a bloody battle or two the monks and the King at the time, Erik decide to make a crown that will control the fate of the giants. After the success of the crown, an era of peace reigns down over the human race while the giants wait patiently for their chance to return.   

When the film picks up years later we are introduced to an 18 year-old Jack (Nicholas Hoult) who has been sent to the market to sell his uncle's wagon and horse for money. When at the market, in the very cliched "love at first sight" meeting, we are introduced to an older Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson) who catches Jack's eye. Like all princesses in our modern day fairytales she yearns for something more than her non-provincial lif. She yearns for adventure: sneaking away from the palace to be closer to her people, she first encounters Jack when he attempts to defend her honor. After doing so Jack is reminded of his status as a farm boy when he remembers his reason for coming to the market and instead of money trades said horse (the wagon was stolen) for beans.  

Like all princesses from back in the day, Isabelle has strayed from the castle because she is being forced by her father King Brahmwell (Ian McShane) to marry someone she does not love: his right hand man Roderick (Stanley Tucci) who just 10 minutes into the movie reveals his true motives of wanting to rule over the kingdom, princess or no princess. The film, which only gets more predictable from here, quickly turns our adventurous princess into a damsel in distress. After running away for a second time, she finds herself at Jack's cottage in the pouring rain, after Jack has dropped some beans on the ground by accident.

The bean stalk grows and the worlds between humans and giants has been bridged yet again with the princess being captured and Jack having to save the day along with the king's royal guardian Elmont (Ewan McGregor). Now Jack not only has to face a two-headed giant (Bill Nighy and Josh Kassir), but also save the princess, fall madly in love with her and, as always, prove himself to her father. 

Though the film (which has grossed nowhere near what it cost to make) lacked in many areas, it primarily had some logistic issues that made one wonder how this film could be 114 minutes long. First, why wasn't the crown passed on throughout the generations so that if and when the giants ever came back to Earth the king or queen could just tell them to go home?

If the giants are supposed to be essentially the same as humans with the same technologies, why couldn't they either A. eat each other or B. just use the rope they already had to get down from their home in the skies and grab a few humans for dinner every night?

Thirdly, if you're supposed to be a GIANT then why does simple human weaponry have an effect on you? Shouldn't getting hit with an arrow feel like getting stuck with a toothpick or getting stabbed by a sword feel like a paper cut? Lastly, how did this film manage to garner such a talented cast? Ian McShane, Bill Nighy, Nicholas Hoult, Stanley Tucci, Ewan McGregor, and even newcomer Eleanor Tomlinson all have or show the promise of an amazing acting career, so why Jack and the Giant Slayer? 

While one can only wonder about these questions and more, the film does successfullly do two things for the audience: it makes them appreciate the advances of special effects, especially compared to the film's "cousin," the 1962 film Jack and the Giant Killer. (I say cousin although the film was originally intended to be a remake of the 1962 film). It also makes us look forward to those summer box office hits that not only tantalize us but make us open our wallets with glee. 

Reach Staff Reporter Nakia Jones here.