New spin on old tale with 'Jack the Giant Slayer'

 That last step delivers the movie’s most fascinating character, an "expert" (J.K. Simmons) on "visitations" whose resignation and exhaustion at their fate, which mirrors his, seems earned. Lacy and Daniel seem beaten before they start.

 Visual effects man turned writer-director Scott Stewart has turned away from the "Legion" and "Priest" D-movies with their angels and vampires and patched together something of an expertly shot and cut mash-up here. He’s very good at managing tension, and the script doles out the requisite shocks at decent intervals.

 What’s missing is that "Insidious" empathy, the sense of parents terrified for their kids, a terror that the viewer should and would share -- if only we’d been given more reason to care or a surer sense that they do. (PG-13, 95 minutes)

-- Roger Moore, MCT News Service

 

 

THIRD WEEK

Safe Haven, (PG-13, 115 minutes)

A Good Day to Die Hard, (R, 97 minutes)

 

 

FOURTH WEEK

Escape from Planet Earth 2-D and 3-D, (PG, 90 minutes)

Identity Thief, (R, 107 minutes)

 

 

LEAVING TONIGHT

Silver Linings Playbook, Warm Bodies, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, Beautiful Creatures.