HERE I COME TO SAVE THE DAY!: Jack (Nicholas Hoult), a common farmer, has fallen in love with the beautiful Princess Isabelle (not shown) and is determined to rescue her. He is climbing a giant beanstalk that has carried his house and the missing princess a mile high into the sky. Jack did not realize that the beanstalk had connected the world of the giants who lived high in the sky to the earth below. As a result, the giants descended from their heights and attempted to conquer the kingdom on earth. So in addition to rescuing the princess, Jack will have to defeat the giants as well.

When Jack (Nicholas Hoult) was a little boy, his imagination was inspired by a bedtime story about a mythical war that was waged ages ago against a fearsome race of giants who had descended from the sky. Before his mother (Caroline Hayes) died, she suggested that he might even be related to Erik the Great (Craig Salisbury), the brave monarch who had led the valiant defense of Earth against the gargantuan invaders.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the peaceful kingdom, young Princess Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson) was being told a similar tale about an epic showdown between good and evil.

A decade later, we find the farmhand’s path crossing that of the future queen when the princess, now a headstrong teenager, sneaks out of the castle to learn about the life of the commoners. When she is accosted by a menacing gang of ruffians at a puppet show, Jack rushes to her assistance.

The damsel in distress becomes so smitten with the gallant lad that she informs her father that she wishes to break off her arranged engagement to the insufferable Roderick (Stanley Tucci), an effete lout who is twice her age. Nonetheless, King Brahmwell would rather have his daughter marry someone she doesn’t love but who is a blue-blooded member of the Royal Court, than marry a commoner.

Fate intervenes in the form of a monk (Simon Lowe) who hands Jack a few mysterious beans. During a secret visit from Isabelle, one slips through the floorboards under Jack’s house, takes root, and starts to grow rapidly, sweeping the humble abode with the princess in it way up into the heavens.

Soon both of her suitors start to search for the missing princess and begin by scaling the mile-high beanstalk  that leads to the other world in the clouds. Jack has no idea that the mammoth plant has also reopened a gateway to the ground for an army of gigantic adversaries. And it’s not long before ancient hostilities are reignited over Isabelle and the fate of the planet below.

Directed by Bryan Singer, Jack the Giant Slayer is an enchanting and often eye-popping adventure which must be seen in 3-D to be appreciated fully. Between the breathtaking panoramas and the derring-do, the picture is a captivating cinematic treat guaranteed to enthrall anyone interested in seeing a classic fairytale being brought to life.

Fee! Fi! Fo! Fum! I smell a hit with the little ones!

Excellent (****). Rated PG-13 for frightening images, brief profanity, and intense violence. Running time: 114 minutes. Distributor: Warner Brothers