Seventh Son would beutterly forgettable, were it not for somedecent directorialelementsand the performances of Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore.
Seventh Son taks place in an ancient fantasy world, where the elderly Master Gregory (Jeff Bridges) the last in a line of knights otherwise known as Spooks -spends his days keepingdark supernatural forces, witches, and other dangerous creatures at bay. Whenthe Blood Moon approaches (an event that happens once a century), Gregorys old enemyMother Malkin (Julianne Moore), the queen of witches, regains enough of her power toescape from themagical prison where Gregory locked her away, so many yearsbefore.
Gregory, with but a week left before the Blood Moon rises (restoring Malkin and her forces to their full strength), sets out to find and train a new apprentice, in the form of Tom Ward (Ben Barnes) who, asthe seventh son of a seventh son, is gifted with the strength necessary to become a Spook. However, as Tom learns more about Gregorys harsh methods and beliefs that all creatures of the night must be eradicated, he begins to wonder if thislife is really what hes destined for.
Ben Barnes and Jeff Bridges in Seventh Son
Seventh Son is a sizably-budgeted tentpolethat wasonce scheduled to reachtheaters almost exactly two years ago, but ended up being delayed; first in order to allow more time forpost-production, then a second time while it was passed fromWarner Bros. to Universal (afterWBand Legendary parted ways).Seventh Sonis not a terrible (or even wonderfully awful) addition to themedieval fantasy/adventure film subgenre, as those holdups have led many to suspect but, thats not to say its surprisingly good, either.
AuthorJoseph Delaneys Wardstone Chronicles novel, The Spooks Apprentice (as its titled outside the U.S.), is the basis for Seventh Sons narrative. Thefilm adaptation certainly hints that Delanys source material offers a fairlyrich fantasy mythology, but in Seventh Son that setting originally envisioned by Delaneycomes off asonly partially realized and feels under-developed. The result isa fantasticalworld that often doesnt make sense and has a rather peculiar socialstructure, among other things. Similarly, there are several interesting thematic concepts introducedthrough the movies various subplots (about the line between good and evil, destiny vs. free will, etc.), yet Seventh Son generallyfails to providesatisfying payoffs to its story threads.
Julianne Moore in Seventh Son
The Seventh Son screenplay credited to Steven Knight (Eastern Promises, Locke) and Charles Leavitt (K-PAX, Blood Diamond) with Matt Greenberg (Reign of Fire, 1408) acknowledgedfor the screen story feels bare-bones, as though a fair amount of important plotand/or character development was cut at some point in development. On the one hand, this allows Seventh Son to avoid feeling bloated and flow by at a nice, steady, pace; on the other hand, this also makes it more difficult to be invested in much of anything (or anyone) onscreen.
Seventh Son director Sergei Bodrov actually has decadesof experience when it comes to craftinghistorical epics that are heavier on practical elements than digital effects (see: Nomad: The Warrior,Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan). It shows here too, as he and cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel (X-Men: Days of Future Past)paint a handsome portrait of a fantastical medieval-period world through soft focus/warm lighting techniques, while also capturing its scope ands scale withsweeping landscape shots and aerialfootage without the whole thing just feeling like a knockoff of Peter Jacksons style, that is.
Theproduction design by Oscar-winner Dante Ferretti (Hugo) is also strong when it comes to tangible sets and costumes/props, but the CGI in Seventh Son isnt handled nearly so well resulting in a number of supernatural monsters and magic effects that seem unconvincing (given the budget) and disconnected from their surroundings at times. Most of the films action involves battles with these digitally-enhanced monsters andend up feeling stilted in execution for that reason. Still,there are some fun moments of creatures bursting from the screen (and scenes that benefit from added screen depth) thatlook better in 3D -but, overall, 3D viewing isnt a necessity for the film.
Jeff Bridges as Master Gregory can best be described as Bridges Rooster Cogburn from True Gritand Gandalf the Grey (complete with Cogburns drawl), whos accompanied by a likable monster sidekick named Tusk (John DeSantis). As such,the Gregory character ends up being a weird, but also entertaining and more memorable spin on the archetypal wise man (and irascible mentor to the journeying hero) than he might have been otherwise. Similarly, Julianne Moore hams it up quite wonderfully in the role ofMother Malkin, making her a delightfully cartoonish villain. That said, the films attempts to presenther as truly menacing fail and many will no doubt roll their eyes at the movies effortto present Malkin as some sort of quasi-feminist antagonist.
Alicia Vikander in Seventh Son
Unfortunately, Ben Barnes as theprotagonistTom Ward and Alicia Vikander (Anna Karenina) as Alice Deane the mysterious young woman and romantic interest for Tom -are both written as very stock fantasy characters. It doesnt help that the actors dont have much chemistryeither, nor that their performances are somewhat lacking. Alternatively, the films supporting cast Olivia Williams (Maps to the Stars), Antje Traue (Man of Steel), Djimon Hounsou (Guardians of the Galaxy), and Kit Harington (Game of Thrones) among them is much stronger and makes the best of the thinly-written material theyre saddled with, but their talents still feel wasted here.
Seventh Son would be utterly forgettable, were it not for somedecent directorial elementsand the performances of Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore. Its not ridiculous enough to become an instant camp classic, nor good enough towork as a straight-faced fantasy/adventure it sadly lands rights in the middle, making it by and large generic as they come. Fans of this genre might get additional mileage out of the film, but for many a personSeventh Son is most likely somethingtheyd be fine with watching at home in the future but wouldnt feel like they got their moneys worthin a fulltheater trip.
TRAILERSeventh Son is now playing in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D theaters nationwide. It is 102 minutes long and is Rated PG-13 for intense fantasy violence and action throughout, frightening images and brief strong language.
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