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"Seventh Son" is a classic struggle between knights and witches with a young love story and a tragic long-ago love story. It is a typical fantasy told with bits of heart and bits of drama.
You will enjoy the morphing of animals into humans and the abundant battles with beasts and monsters. Perhaps there are too many repetitive yawn-inducing CG battles. Although the storyline is somewhat predictable, it has enough twists and revelations to keep the audience somewhat excited.
The opening scene is fascinating: the witch being locked away by a mysterious man and then fast-forward passing-of-time in what it looks like is a Grand Canyon/Highlands hybrid landscape. During the whole movie the scenery is very enjoyable, including the medieval villages and castles. Certainly Julianne Moore impersonation as the evil shape-shifter witch is spellbinding! And then, there are the dragons--loved that too! The chosen boy to become apprentice has all these visions that foreshadow what's coming next. Along the entire movie, the visuals are dulled by a certain haze or fog--I guess that's the mood the director wants to convey for the film.
The centerpiece of the story is the witch and revolving around that is the training of the seventh son. After the introduction, we then meet Gregory (Jeff Bridges). and we learn what he wants-- to kill all witches. Jeff Bridges is sort of a humorous medieval Buffalo-Bill-looking knight determined to destroy the witch--Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore), and to accomplish that, he recruits the Seventh Son, the country boy, Tom (Ben Barnes). We also learn that the witch wants revenge, and she'll organize her forces to take power. When we meet Tom, the to-be-apprentice, we learn that he wants a different life and that he has a strong bond with his mother, who gives him a special pendant before he goes with the teacher (Jeff Bridges). We later discover some truths about Tom and about Gregory that give us a new insight into these characters. This pendant, and the emphasis on the mother have a reason to be--these two elements become relevant later in the story. Next appears a young witch, who will captivate Tom's heart.
Overall the performances are passionless, except for the witch herself. Perhaps the story spends more time in battles than in character exploration. My favorite part of the movie is the third act: suddenly there's drama! In the end, we learn that there are good witches and bad witches, and that a change of heart is possible.
This is no "Lord of the Rings" and is not much of a memorable movie, but it is entertaining. It's based on a fantasy novel--The Last Apprentice--the Revenge of the Witch. Actually "Seventh Son" reminds me of that Michelle Pfeiffer witch film: Stardust and also of the "Chronicles of Narnia."
Certainly this is a film worth watching. I thought I wouldn't, but I'm planning to watch this movie a second time. There's something compelling about it and I want to find out what it is...
Enjoy.
Thanks for reading! Cheers.
score 7/10
Yelitza-screenwriting-student 7 February 2015
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3178688/ |
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22-11-2019 06:42:49
