Continuing tonight’s film review writing extravaganza, we take leave of the indie film world, and venture into major release territory with the fantasy/ action offering from Legendary Pictures, “Seventh Son”.
SEE THE TRAILER HERE
A fantasy/action story, brought to screen by “Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Kahn” director Sergei Bodrov, we are taken to a place where witches, warlocks, dragons, and other fantastical creatures reside to first enter the life of an aging but wizened and adept Spook (a special order of knights who battle supernatural beasts, NOT a CIA agent peeps), Master Gregory (Jeff Bridges), whom we see through flashback has had his fair share of success in battling otherworldly forces as commissioned to do, but has also had plenty of loss and heartbreak specifically at the hands of a powerful witch Queen, Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore). Having escaped confine and looking to re-gather her evil forces to rule the world, Gregory ultimately comes into the knowledge of Tom Ward (Ben Barnes), a young man who has a calling via heritage, visions he constantly sees of future occurrences, and a secret held by his mother, Mam (Olivia Williams). Taking a stubborn and initially hesitant Tom under his wing, Gregory vies to reveal to him the order of knights he is a part of, the duties it entails, and the warnings not to be involved with one of Malkin’s acolytes, Alice (Alicia Vikander). As Tom learns more and more what it is to become a Spook, he still questions whether it truly is the path he even desires. But when events unfold that push him to a breaking point, Gregory guides him toward his destiny, even as other truths are revealed from Gregory’s past that could undermine the attempt to stop Mother Malkin from achieving her goal of domination over the land. Tom soon learns differences between good and evil, and what it takes to become a hero.
Ok, Hollywood. Not only have we seen this done before, but done WAY better. Sadly, “Seventh Son” comes across as just another “typical” mystical fantasy world adventure that doesn’t have the real fortitude at its heart to truly get a viewer past the stunted dialogue and cliché storyline. It is often hard to see quality actors given material like this, because as much as the cast is trying to bring about effective characters here, it just did not work for this reviewer. Coming off a solid performance in “The Giver“, Bridges’ Master Gregory came across mildly engaging, a little amusing, but ultimately felt flat and cookie cutter as it were. The bravado, and the voice (literally), given to the character seemed a tad forced, and sometimes even borderlined on cheesiness. Bridges is FAR better than material like this. The same could be said for Julianne Moore’s Mother Malkin (sorry, but what kind of name IS that for a powerfully evil witch??), as even though we’re not expecting Oscar level dialogue and characters here, the over-the-top effort just made this viewer cringe at times. Ben Barnes was excellent as Prince Caspian, and while he manages to infuse Tom with a sense of passable charisma and “realism”, even then it seemed just too much like watching ANY formulaic hero stride forth, experiencing the wonder of what he is, then doubting, then coming back with a vengeance to claim who he is. LOVE those themes, but again, it’s simply been done better. Some great CGI visuals were present of course, and that was entertaining. But in a world where we’ve been given the majesty of “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” to smaller budget (but better written!) fantasy stories like “How To Train Your Dragon” and “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” to portray tales of young, reluctant heroes, “Seventh Son” and its characters just weren’t memorable enough to rank. Again, this is a shame, given the actual talent of so many of the film’s lead and supporting actors and actresses.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
