Jack and the Beanstalk (2009) User Reviews

Too cheesy for grownups so hope kids like

[bananaspider · 4/10 · 26 May 2010]

It was beginning to look like a good story. Then the cheesiness came into play. A bit over acted and silly. Again, maybe the very young kids will like this adaptation. I soon lost interest and wished Gilbert Gottfried (the goose) would just shut up already.

The creation of Jack and the Beanstalk, I believe, was hurried and not too much focus on creation. I mean, the giant was not even a giant, more like a big puppet, etc.

Most likely you will take the kids along to a theater to see and hope they will enjoy just the silliness of it all and not my luck of seeing a screener as an adult and no kids along while expecting a totally different style of movie. A More serious adaptation maybe? I think Disney would have done a better job.

My forecast for reviews of Jack and the Beanstalk will be, in grade level, user's (C) and critics (C). Or a 5 rating in IMDb.

A cute little family film

[Sherazade · 6/10 · 9 May 2014]

So I caught this on Encore Family the other night and half way through I was wondering why I hadn't heard of this version of 'Jack and the Beanstalk' before this. It's draped in a slew of stars from Gilbert Gottfried to Chloë Grace Moretz as well as amazing cameos from Chevy Chase to Katey Sagal with James Earl Jones as the voice of the giant. Jack (played by Colin Ford in his debut film role) is an outcast at school, he doesn't quite fit in to the fairy tale sort of scene where his classmates like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Prince Charming (Billy Unger) excel. On top of that he is dogged by the stigma of his absentee father who famously deserted his family and left them for poor. A chanced meeting with a mysterious shopkeeper changes the course of his life forever as he embarks on a journey of heroism, friendship and redemption. Christopher Lloyd co-stars.

Entertaining for kids with familiar faces for adults.

[rradosti · 4/10 · 22 March 2020]

GOOD INTERESTING STORY THAT IS FUN AND PRETTY EASY TO FOLLOW = 1/2 Star

MEMORABLE DIALOGUE = 1 Star

FEEL A PULL TO WATCH IT AGAIN = 0 Stars

MUSIC OR SCORE STANDS OUT = 1/2 Star

NO NOTICEABLE PLOT HOLES = 0 Stars

STORY GETS RESOLVED OR FEELS COMPLETE IN SOME WAY = 1 Star

I PERSONALLY LIKE OR FEEL A CONNECTION TO THIS STORY = 0 Stars

MEMORABLE OR LIKABLE CHARACTERS = 1 Star

MOST THINGS ABOUT THE STORY COULD ACTUALLY HAPPEN OR ARE BELIEVABLE = 0 Stars

STORY ISN'T BORING OR REPETITIVE = 0 Stars

A funny movie for kids that puts a whole new spin on Jack and the Beanstalk. There are many familiar faces in this film and it's a wonder why it bombed. The story is creative and somewhat funny even for adults. It's almost like a unintentional trippy movie to laugh at with friends. This story is cliche but so is the original story right?

They don't make 'em like this any more, thank God

[mattbaxter72 · 2/10 · 18 July 2011]

You know how your granny complains that they never make nice films any more, that the whole family can sit down and watch? This was clearly designed by your granny, as something nice and old fashioned; the trouble is, I think the old bird's getting a bit senile.

It goes like this: Jack lives in fairyland, where everything is a fairy story, and he wants to be a hero. But in order to do so, he has to go on a quest and learn about things like Sacrifice and Perseverance and I'm sorry I just can't go on. I just can't.

It's not the clichéd plot that kills this movie. It's not even the hideous, explosion-in-a-cuteness-factory design of the sets. It's the acting, and the characters. They're just AWFUL. Jack himself is the kind of precocious brat who needs a good whack upside the head, but he's nothing compared to poor Christopher Lloyd, who is forced to explain every joke very slowly, over and over, as though he's speaking to an audience that's suffering from major brain damage. Lloyd is better than the frantically mugging Wallace Shawn, who plays multiple roles, all of them dreadful. Even that shameful performance is far, far better than Gilbert Gottfried, who is just insufferable as a human chicken. Did no one look at that character? Did no one think that maybe, just maybe, a movie with that horrible, screeching nincompoop at the centre of it might be a bad idea? The only cast member who comes out of this mess with any dignity intact is Chloe Moretz, who filmed this just before she went on to fame in Kick-Ass. I think it's safe to say she won't be putting this movie in her show reel, though.

This is an old-fashioned family film, in all the wrong ways. It's far too twee and cloying for adults, and much too cutesy for kids who have been brought up on the harder edges of Pixar or Disney movies. There's never any sense of even slight danger, so that it's impossible for adults or kids to get involved in the film. I wouldn't recommend letting your kids see Kick-Ass, but there are a thousand better movies for them than this.

Loved this film

[engineerbill · 3 March 2012]

Absolutely loved this film, the classic story updated a little and with enough going on to keep the younger viewers occupied. For me, in my mid 50's this was a great re-telling of the original story. had a great time identifying the older actors (and voices). For those that give this film a bad review, put yourselves in the shoes of a 6 or 7 year old seeing and hearing the story for the first time and accept it for what it is, a fairy tale! I thought that the standard of acting, the production and all of the sets were superb, in particular the goose that laid the golden egg, Christoper Lloyd as the schoolmaster and Katey Sagal as Jack,s mother were particularly good performances

Just Horrible

[stevesky · 3/10 · 25 June 2017]

Once you realise that the director works there n the make-up department for most of his life (and still today) you can see why this over acted, badly written, terribly cast sh*t flick is so bad. What you can't believe or understand is how he was allowed to direct it. There must be a much more interesting story there. The writers have only written animated scrips before, so no live film experience which explains why every character in the famous tale is so 1 dimensional. Cameos don't add anything and I sWear you can see the girls eyes moving in some scenes as she reads off dummy cards. Just crap.

Bad kids movie

[SnoopyStyle · 3/10 · 31 August 2013]

A fairy tale character who is about to flunk out of fairy tale school, Jack must perform a heroic deed by Monday or fail miserably, just like his father before him. Anxious to make good, Jack sells his C.O.W. (Computer of Wonder) for a handful of magic beans and a mysterious book that records his adventures as he's having them.

It's a cross between a bad kids movie and sarcastic adult fare. There are many problems with this film. The production looks like a bad kids TV show. Much of the movie is colored too far to the yellow and made this look very tired. The sets look cheap and cheesy. Gilbert Gottfried as the golden egg laying goose is another one of the many problems. He is ill-fitting in this kids film. Then again the jokes are really stupid. Chloë Grace Moretz is playing a small role as the damsel in distress in the opening fantasy and Jillian who helps out in the quest. Colin Ford is OK if lacking in screen presence. And everybody is doing badly here which is disappointing considering the many favorite actors here. And this starts with an unreasonable modern dream sequence. If this takes place in an old fantasy land, why would he dream about the modern day. Like so many things here, it's best not to think about it.

This is a very disturbing movie

[LostMonkeyBoy · 1/10 · 12 February 2021]

I put this movie on to watch on Prime (good thing I didn't pay) with my wife and two daughters (6 and 2) because the older one has been reading Jack and Beanstalk for school. Within minutes of playing the movie there was a scene of Chloë Grace Moretz who must have been 10-11 at the time of filming, suggestively biting her lips and trying to look seductive to Jack while chained up. After he rescues her, they embrace is a very inappropriate way. I had to stop the movie right where it was. I don't need to see anything more.. my wife had a look of pure disbelief and shock on her face. This is not a kids film or a family film. This is a very disturbing movie made for perverts and podophiles.

My kids loved it

[nicolasgaraycochea · 5/10 · 12 May 2023]

My kids loved it, but my wife and me, not so much. The only saving grace is that it has quite a few 80's and 90's pop culture references. Those were fun.

This has some iconic actors and it's totally for all the family to watch. It's super mild, my 3 year old really liked it and didn't get scared at all.

The show is super weird and quirky. There is this one super silly fight scene that made my kids laugh.

I will say that the goose's voice is pretty annoying, and the show could have done better without him. I literally have nothing left to say about this show. How the heck did they convince these big name actors to play in this movie?

Not that bad. Give it a chance.

[tiedyed57 · 7/10 · 9 July 2010]

Truthfully, this movie made me feel like I was 12 again watching classics such as Dark Crystal or The Never Ending Story. It even had some Terry Gilliam mixed in which, I enjoyed. I am also a huge fan of the story, Jack and the Beanstalk. I like seeing movies that get the kids involved, climbing on the couch which, is the beanstalk at home. We all had fun with the film.

It was nice to see Chevy Chase doing what he does best again.

I'm not saying it's going to be a classic but it was certainly better than I expected. The director Gary J. Tunnicliffe did a good job trying to make an old fashion feeling kids film.

For this being Collin Fords (who plays Jack) first film, he did a great job and really enjoyed him.

Give it a chance. I agree to the kids will like it more than adults.

I feel like this was a low budget title.

[brutalkid1997 · 3/10 · 1 January 2013]

*Contains spoilers! *Contains spoilers! *Contains spoilers!

This movie was okay for kids, the jokes were not rude yet one by Grayson, Was heading the wrong way, luckily jack stops him. And the use of the word "Badonkadonk" i think that's how you spell it, Never mind. The fact that jacks dad is dead does allow one dramatic scene that is not ruined by Grayson. Also the fact that this movie was poorly written is quite an open topic for me, the jokes were, well we seen these jokes, in past movies or even youtube videos, so while nothing really new here, some jokes stood out.

Whenever someone mentions Jack and the beanstalk, i think Crappy plays, not terrible movies, and poor acting, this was one of them, now no disrespect for Colin it was his first ever movie, and he got a part that was get him little stardom but the kid was something like 12 when this was made,and it was not even in the cinemas, or not advertised well, he has a lot of time to make a fool of himself. But also a lot of time to get a better movie part.

I know this is long, and i may seem like a jerk, but you should see me review music, i get insane over it.

So this movie was poorly written, mediocre performances and is very little boring as it starts with bad jokes, and feel like another cheap play, this movie was not the worst movie, but its no charmer either, 3/10

Loved it

[Bored_Dragon · 8/10 · 12 April 2017]

Pretty much low-budget, but very entertaining. A smart, witty parody on famous fairy-tales, full of cultured humor, without vulgarity and all those nasty things that suppose to be funny these days. Perfect for brain relaxation.

8/10

A touch of 90s classic with the modern vibe...

[godzluvchild · 7/10 · 17 February 2020]

Overall, it was a good movie. My favorite character was Grayson. I liked his sense of humor. In the beginning when they showed how Jack had a crush on a mysterious girl, I was concerned that the movie would lose it's G rating like some other movies with kids but the movie was kept clean. At times, the dialogue was a bit confusing. I believe it was because the writers were trying to introduce an interesting concept or moral but was having a hard time simplifying it. The storyline is fairly easy to follow. The different twists and turns of the story left the story interesting and with some questions. Like, what happened to the father after he escaped? But, as I said, it was an overall good movie. I like that there is a bit of a 90s vibe to it. It makes the movie more wholesome.

Good cast but looks cheap

[robmilnerfhm-63116 · 5/10 · 7 February 2021]

Strange film, very good cast with a pantomime script and what must have been an expensive set which looked incredibly cheap. Little things bugged me like the gap around the eys of the monsters mask.... I don't get how they didn't fill it in to look better!

Gave it 5 stars out of 10 for the simple fact my child sat through it and enjoyed it and it kept me relatively interested.

Excellent

[vchimpanzee · 12 August 2013]

This is a very good movie, with nothing offensive unless you don't like potty humor. But the movie still got a TV-G rating. I saw "Dumb and Dumberer" the same weekend, and if you want offensive potty humor ...

Plenty of actors give very good performances.

Colin Ford and Chloe Grace Moretz are wonderful as the children with the largest roles.

Gilbert Gottfried is as annoying as always, but his goose is one of the best things about the movie. At some point in the past I learned to accept his very brash style.

Katey Sagal is wonderful as Jack's mom, so normal and loving, until she gets upset and then she's more like the outrageous townspeople.

It is never explained why most of the people have British accents but Jack and his mother don't. Oh, well ...

Daniel Roebuck is appropriately over-the-top as the town's mayor.

There is a sepia-tone silent movie as Verri Saddus tells his story through flashbacks. There is music and narration, and eventually even sound from the past even though the style is still that of silent movies.

James Earl Jones is his usual vicious villain. As with Darth Vader, he doesn't appear, but the giant in this version is no bigger than an NBA player.

Three cops named Who, What and Where are given the job of finding Jack, but all they really do is a funny parody of Abbott and Costello.

It's a worthy effort.

This is a funny and good movie

[sus3337 · 10/10 · 19 November 2018]

This is one of those movies that both children and adults can watch and both will enjoy it on different levels. Full of nonsense, inside jokes, silly and highly watchable. The parts played by well known "adult" actors are frequently against type, and the child actors are the ones that bring the emotions and the story to life. Light-hearted and fun to watch for a so-called "kids" movie.

Never Again....

[agunt7 · 14 December 2010]

OK, so the first thing you would have noticed is that I did not give this movie a rating. This is because of the simple fact that there is not a rating that I could give low enough, that would even begin to represent how terrible this film is. It does not deserve to even be called a movie, and so for the remainder of this review, I will refer to it as an insult. Because that is what it is, I have never in my entire life, felt such an intense mixture of hatred, pity and embarrassment, like which I felt while watching this insult.

Now I am not a professional movie critic, and to be honest I will probably never write another review on this site. But the fact that I actually felt compelled to go through the process of creating myself an IMDb account, just so I could write one for this, should be proof enough that I am telling the truth. This review might get negative comments or remarks, I may be called a fool, and it be said that I have no idea about what a good movie is, but at least I will have been heard.

There was only one part in this insult, that gave me even the slightest amusement, though it came during a scene where I guess you were supposed to be feeling sad, when Jack found out that his father had died, and he breaks down into tears. But his acting, and I know he was a kid and it was his first production, but his face when he started crying was giving me the message that he was either constipated or was about to sneeze, and I actually laughed, in that strange feeling of anger and pity. But Colin Ford as Jack was not the only stand out role. There was the character of Grayson the goose, played by Gillbert Gottfried who's insistent and relentless reliance on lame pathetic jokes together with the most penetrating and aggravating voice create in my eyes, the most irritating and disgusting performance I have ever seen….EVER. I don't understand how people involved in productions such as this cannot see how absolutely terrible and pathetic their film is going to be before they make it. Everyone who had anything to do with this insult deserve to be captured and put down. How the director can live with himself after knowing how many lives he has ruined by creating this piece of sh** excuse for a movie, I don't know.

The special effects were few and cheap, the giant and his minions were so poorly dubbed that I believe even a class of mentally disabled 2 year olds could have moved the mouths in better sync with the sound. The acting was disgusting, and the jokes……..the jokes were so incredibly, pathetically lame, that I actually felt that my intelligence was being frontally abused and insulted, whoever the writers were, whoever they were intending to entertain with their jokes, I can say only one thing……EPIC FAIL.

It could be argued that its humour was aimed at young children, but i do enjoy good kids movies, and i can see how those movies would be funny to a child, but unfortunately, this is not the case. It will be a sad sad day when this is what is considered funny to children.

If I had one wish in my lifetime, I would wish that this insult had never been spawned from the deepest darkest depths of hell, it is so bad, that it is in its self the cruelest act of torture. A creation of such evil, that it can bring out the worst in anyone, I believed myself a calm collected person, I used to pride myself on my tolerance and ability to not get angry. But once I copped this insult, I was filled with such an intense and unsatisfiable rage, that I felt I had to write this review and let it out. And I am hoping that by doing so, I can save you my friends from ever having to experience what I have. I have never in my entire life, felt such an unreal and pure hatred towards anything I have seen, read or heard. I would honestly prefer to sit through an entire Justin Bieber concert (that's right I said it) than see this again. I will not ever ever ever ever ever……..EVER, watch this again. Do yourself a favor my friends, heed my warning don't put yourself through it.

Fairy Tale Brought to Life

[ichocolat · 27 April 2010]

Jack and The Beanstalk surprises me! It's the fairytale I've been read to by my parents when I was growing up, and for the these fairytale to be brought to live is simply mesmerizing!

Imagine finding out how grotesque the Giant is, how tall the beanstalk is, to see Red Riding Hood, & the other fairytale heroes, well, aren't those wonderful?

Well, they didn't make the film to be the exact copy as the original fairytale, but hey, it is not a crime! And I don't think that following the original can make the the film boring & with no surprise factor. And do one put most of the fairytale characters in a film without making adjustments?

What I find most interesting about this film is the dialogs. Had the viewers listen carefully, they would realize that the jokes are funny, and takes jibes to many issues.

And the cast are amazing! Yeah, some might find the goose to be a tad exaggerating, but other than that, it's all cool yo!

And did I mention about the pillow fight? Alright. I did some reading and found out that in order not to get an R rating, but still needing to have fighting scenes. So they decided to have a fighting scene, but not using bats and chains, but using pillows! Ingenious!

Recommended, and suitable to be watched by children. 10/10 on that account.