'Jack the Giant Slayer' is more ho-hum than fee-fi-fo-fum

'Jack' has mostly perfunctory performances, though the giants are somewhat entertaining.

Not awful, not wonderful, “Jack the Giant Slayer” is a midrange fairy tale epic that’s a lot more ho-hum than fee-fi-fo-fum. Director Bryan Singer offers little of the distinctiveness that occasionally still peeps through his productions. (He’s migrated from “The Usual Suspects” to the “X-Men” franchise). Dewy Nicholas Hoult plays an orphaned farmhand who ends up rescuing an equally dewy princess (Eleanor Tomlinson), as well as much of her father’s kingdom, from a sky-high race of giants who are badly in need of dental care.

The 3-D effects are perfunctory, and so are most of the performances, at least those given by humans (Stanley Tucci and Ewan McGregor among them). The giants come across better. It’s nice to know that Method acting has taken root in the clouds. Grade: C+ (Rated PG-13 for intense scenes of fantasy action violence, some frightening images and brief language.)