Seventh Son Review

Seventh Son

Release Date: 5th March 2015 - Australia

Production Companies

Universal Pictures

Legendary Pictures 

China Film Co. (in association with)
Outlaw Sinema (produced with the participation with)
Pendle Mountain Productions
Thunder Road Pictures

Distribution 

Universal Pictures Australia 

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: M

Runtime: 102 minutes


Budget: $95,000,000

Box Office Gross: $114,178,613
(Worldwide)

Plot Summary
A 18th century adventure
story centered on young
Thomas, who is apprenticed
to the local Spook to learn
to fight evil spirits. His
first great challenge comes
when the powerful Mother
Malkin escapes her
confinement while the
Spook is away.

Cast

Jeff Bridges - Master Gregory

Ben Barnes - Tom Ward

Julianne Moore - Mother Malkin

Alicia Vilkander - Alice

Kit Harington - Billy Bradley

Djimon Hounsou - Radu

Olivia Williams - Mam Ward
Antje Traue - Bony Lizzie
Jason Scott Lee - Urag
John DeSantis - Tusk
Gerald Plunkett - Inquisitor
Kandyse McClure - Sarikin
Luc Roderique - Strix
Zahf Paroo - Virahadra
Timothy Webber - Malcom Ward
Lilah Fitzgerald - Cate Ward
Marcel Bridges - Jack Ward
Primo Allon - Simon Ward
Simon Burnett - Boldmere

Crew
Director - Sergey Bodrov
Based on Novel and
Inspiration "The Spook's
Apprentice" - Joseph Delaney
Screen Story - Matt Greenberg
Screenplay - Charles Leavitt and
Steven Knight
Associate Producer - Martin Cohen
Executive Producers - Alysia Cotter,
Jon Jashni and Brent O'Connor
Producers - Basil Iwanyk,
Thomas Tull and Lionel Wigram
Co-Producer - Jillian Share
Production Designer - Dante Ferretti
Set Decorator - Elizabeth Wilcox
Costume Designer - Jacqueline West
Creature Designer - Ben Mauro
Cinematography - Newton Thomas Sigel
Second Unit Director/Stunt Coordinator -
Paul Jennings
Stunt Coordinator - Danny Virtue
Stunt Coordinator/Peformer - Larry Lam
Fight Coordinator/Stunt Double: Jeff Bridges -
Thomas DuPont
Special Effects Supervisor - Alex Burdett
Special Effects Coordinator - Rashmi Salvi
Visual Effects Designer - John Dykstra
Visual Effects Supervisor: MPC - Nicolas Aithadi
Visual Effects Supervisor: MPC Vancouver -
Erik Nordby
Visual Effects Supervisor: Method Studios
Los Angeles - Mark Breakspear
Visual Effects Producers - Denise Davis
and Justin Gladden
Film Editors - Jim Page and Paul Rubell
Music - Marco Beltrami

Review

Loosely based on a fantasy book, 'SEVENTH SON' has little to justify its existence in the genre and is completely watered down and beige. On its release, the movie went unnoticed at the box office and there could have been new things to best fulfill its ambitions. This takes its toll on 'SEVENTH SON' as it was another attempt to be a proper fantasy adventure flick to carry on the legacy of the original 'Lord of the Rings' films. For starters, the feature tries to brandish digital imagery and some fantasy elements and merge those into an interesting blockbuster but fails. The story revolves around an order of wizards whose magical means is derived from their being a seventh son which gives them the power to hunt witches and warlocks.

I have issues with the actors chosen for the lead roles in this banal adaptation as they were miscast or possibly misdirected. Jeff Bridges has never done a role similar to the mentor figure he plays. This was obvious as he tries to add a fierce side to his character and act differently than Jeremy Irons had done for 'Eragon'. But he comes across as a bad drunken impersonation of Gandalf here. I felt Ben Barnes was too old and miscast and brings no defiance to his character, and Kit Harington's brief appearance is as typecast as it gets. Julianne Moore tries to sink a tooth into her role, but her antagonist bares no teeth and no bite as her performance is hampered by the mundane direction.

I say 'SEVENTH SON' lacks originality, tension and excitement. Everything in the film feels neutered and sanitised as it falls apart the way that other failed fantasy movies had have.

Star rating: (2/10) Bad Movie

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