Our first look at the ugly ones in Jack the Giant Slayer really sells the intricacy of modern digital effects. It's all downhill from there. For those who wait in line for the big finale, I can only warn you of the impending disappointment. We get plenty of build-up, yet there's no emotional release in terms of a huge battle scene.

SPOILER ALERT

Director Bryan Singer wastes at least twenty minutes showing the giants trying to break through the human defences. Just when the movie looks set to become something more significant than a tease, the scene comes to an abrupt close. I won't tell you how. It's simply enough to know that scant payoff exists here.

Performances fail to register with any life. Nicholas Hoult punishes the audience with his seeming inadequacy. Even more experienced cast members such as Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci and Ian McShane have seldom looked so uninspired.

As for the pantomime romance between Hoult and Eleanor Tomlinson, there's nothing fresh about their attraction. The idea of a class difference between them recalls James Cameron's Titanic. Overall, we can hardly hope to root for these people to survive and triumph over the giants when we don't believe in their basic goodness from the start.

The visual effects come from the same school of filmmaking which brought us I Am Legend. Remember those animated looking monsters with zero scare potential? Not good.

Quite frankly, I'm surprised at Singer for choosing such a well-trod piece of material. In the mid 1990s, he crafted The Usual Suspects and showed even the most innovative directors how a thriller should be done. Now, with Jack the Giant Slayer, he may be back to square one.

On the plus side, composer/editor John Ottman excels in this environment with a classically wrought score. The only problem could be that the film doesn't deserve such a lavish and skillful treatment.

(Released by Warner Bros. and rated "PG-13" by MPAA.)