Year of Release: 2014
Director: Sergei Bodrov
Starring: Ben Barnes, Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, Alicia Vikander, Antje Traue, Olivia Williams, Kit Harington, Djimon Hounsou, Gerard Plunkett, Jason Scott Lee, Kandyse McClure, Luc Roderique, Timothy Webber, Lilah Fitzgerald
Genre: Action, Adventure
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 2
Watch it on Amazon
Synopsis and Review
"Seventh Son" is based on Joseph Delaney's "Spook's" series, in particular the first tome of the series, "The Spook's Apprentice". The narrative takes place in the 16th century and focuses on the story of Tom Ward, who is an apprentice to Gregory, the last of the Falcons, an order created to defend mankind against supernatural threats. Gregory lost his prior apprentice at the hands of the powerful witch Malkin, who seeks revenge against Gregory. Initially Gregory and Tom don't seem like the best fit, as they don't get along, but as Tom becomes more aware of Gregory's reasonings and course of action, he learns to admire his patron. Tom also makes an acquaintance with a woman by the name of Alice, who is about to be burned as a witch. Tom saves her, but it turns out she is Malkin's niece and has been tracking them. In the interim Malkin is also assembling an army, since a full blood moon is arriving soon, which will restore her full powers. And when that happens, she wants to extend her dominance everywhere. As Tom and Gregory, with the latter's assistant in tow (Tusk is his name) continue onwards to locate Malkin, she and her gang go about spreading destruction and death, with one of those mortal victims being Tom's mother, herself a witch (unknown to Tom), who gifted him with a necklace that may change how the battle is going to unfurl.
In many celebrated actors and actresses careers, there are titles that are puzzling as to what drove some of those very talented artist to tackle such material. "Seventh Son" is one of those cases, a film that contains a wide array of very talented actors and actresses, who were probably thinking this was going to be a case similar to what Peter Jackson achieved with "The Lord of the Rings" adaptation, but which ended up being more similar in tone and output to the dismal "Eragorn", directed by Stefen Fangmeier. The main issue with this film in particular lies with the fact that there isn't much to these characters that goes beyond a mere sketch: there isn't much nuance or distinctiveness to them. Peter Jackson's adaptation of "The Lord of the Rings" managed to not only capture the unique footprint of each character, it also captured the spirit and environment in which these characters existed. He managed to bring Middle Earth to life, by making it almost a character of its own. "Seventh Son" tries to tell its story very succinctly, but does so by sacrificing relationships between characters, and also never truly rendering the fantastical world in which they live in a truly meaningful way (the ogre's assistant is just taken at face value, though not much context to him is ever volunteered). The film comes across as something rushed, with questionable visual effects (some ostensibly cheap): something like a cheap magic trick, meant to momentarily blind you like a shiny bauble, all the while the lack of quality to the trick is in plain sight for all to see. The cast tries their best with what they have, which at times means amping up the overacting, which is what Julianne Moore sadly does here. Jeff Bridges manages to keep his dignity intact, as does Alicia Vikander. But it's a film that is ultimately a disservice for everyone involved. The production team is top notch, including Newton Thomas Sigel's cinematography, the stunning production design from Dante Ferretti, and beautiful costumes from Jacqueline West. It's a missed opportunity, material that a director with more vision could have navigated to something more memorable.
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