Friday, January 9, 2015

My Review of SEVENTH SON: Familiar Fantasy

January 8, 2014




Set in medieval times in Europe somewhere, "Seventh Son" brings us back to a time when supernatural beings like witches, ghosts, ghasts and the like wreaked otherworldly terror on the countryside. The people depended on a special knight called the "Spook" to fight these creatures and restore peace in the land.

Master Gregory is the last living Spook and he is getting on in age. In his last big fight with the grand witch Mother Malkin, he lost his apprentice Billy.  Gregory calls on Tom Ward, another "seventh son of a seventh son," to take his place before Mother Malkin totally regains her powers by the night of the full blood moon. Will Tom be up to the task of becoming the new Spook? Or will pretty lass Alice distract Tom from his destiny?

Ben Barnes plays Tom Ward. Barnes first gained attention as Prince Caspian in the Narnia films, though his career did not really fly too much after that. He takes another stab at stardom with yet another action fantasy with this one. Already an adult man, Barnes was already too old for the teen character he is supposed to play. Anyhow, while he did still have a youthful handsome mien, his screen charisma seems strangely wan. 

Jeff Bridges plays Master Gregory. He is at his hammy best here -- all drunk, curmudgeonly and slurred. This is already his third film IN A ROW playing an old master training an heir-apparent to his position. Bridges felt like he just reprised his roles in "RIPD" and "The Giver" from the past two years. I liked his witty zingers during the training sessions which added humor to the proceedings.

Julianne Moore goes all campy playing Mother Malkin with evil relish and glee. She seemed to be having a field day with this over-the-top character, much unlike the more serious and quiet ones she is more known for. In addition, she and her coven of powerful witches (played by Antje Traue, Djimon Hounsou, Jason Scott Lee, among others) get to wear more elaborate witchy-chic costumes than Maleficent. They also get to transform into dragons and similarly fantastic beasts, thanks to some neat and nifty computer-generated special effects.

This film is based on the young adult novel "The Spook's Apprentice" written by Joseph Delaney, the first of many in a series. Unlike the atmospheric and creepy book it was based on, the film is makes it more of an exciting action fantasy for cinematic verve. Tom and Alice in the book are both pre-teens, but older here (like what they did for "Percy Jackson"). The witch characters did not fit their descriptions in the book as well. They did not turn into animals in the book, for one. In fact, one of the side characters, the deformed humanoid Tusk, even shifts over from evil in the book to good in the film.

"Seventh Son" is alright as an action fantasy film for younger teen audiences. The visual effects were uneven, hit and miss. Some (like the shape-shifting) could be impressive and seamless, but some (like the conflagrations) looked old-fashioned and garishly fake. Book fans may be disappointed by the major deviations from the original tale. Those who are unfamiliar with the book though will be entertained, but will definitely feel that the story being told by director Sergey Bodrov follows a familiar and very tired formula. 6/10.


18 comments:

  1. I haven't heard of it, but it sounds interesting. I don't get out much, and only to the movies MAYBE once a year :P

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  2. Planning to watch this film at SM Cinema this coming Sunday. For sure I'll enjoy this movie because of you positive review.....6/10...but I will, it's scheduled.

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  3. I've seen their movie posters ALL AROUND my life, and my dad keeps asking me if it'll be a nice movie. After reading your review, I don't think it'll be our kind of thing then :P

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  4. They do that a lot, don't they? Take a book, make it into a movie but don't really stay faithful to the original story?

    My husband might be interested to see this, so I'll end up watching it. Good thing I haven't read the book, or I'll most likely be listing everything that's not right in the movie, haha

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  5. I haven't heard of the movie though and it doesn't seems to be my type. Great review though.

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  6. Not my kind of film, I am certainly more action over fiction but as always Fred, a fantastic film review! Sim x

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  7. An aunt watched this movie and she thought it was nice. maybe she was being too kind with her review. I am not really into this kind of genre so I think I pass watching this one. Thanks for the review.

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  8. This genre is not for everyone. A younger audience might appreciate this film more. Your review's great, as always. And, the rating's honest too.

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  9. Great review. Don't think this is my kinda of movie. :D

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  10. I think that teenagers would still be fascinated by the cast and the effects, even though some of them had their flaws, however, I prefer to watch drama.

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  11. We were supposed to watch this last night but when I saw the trailer, I felt like we're not going to enjoy it. I prefer Sci fi adventure movies.

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  12. Not sure the Seventh Son will be available in my country or not. If is yes I will catch that movie.

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  13. That's too bad, I was looking forward to watching this because the trailer looked promising!!

    I haven't read the books, so that might be an advantage for me.

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  14. I haven't heard of the book let alone the movie. Sounds interesting though.

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  15. It is I think always the downside of movies that were based from books. As readers, we have our own imagination of the story so making it into a movie and not being able to reach reader's expectation usually makes the movie disappointing.

    I saw tweets about this movie being a good watch but because I trust your review, I think I'll pass this one.

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  16. This movie is not my cup of tea, but it's pretty interesting. My brother and his friends are talking about this one.

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  17. Some of my friends who had watched discouraged me from watching and say that it will be a waste of time. Based on your rating, it seems like what they say is true...

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  18. Action fantasy films don't interest me and I often wonder why. You review gave me more insight into the genre. Pity the film didn't live up to the book.

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