Movie Review: Seventh Son (2015)
Seeing films in Malaysia weeks, if not months, ahead of their US and UK releases happens every now and again, however, it can be a bit of a multi-edged sword. Sometimes it’s a very welcome surprise, as with Snowpiercer’s stealth release here, uncut and months before director Joon-Ho Bong and studio head Harvey Weinstein quit squabbling and agreed to the final cut and release plans for the US. Sometimes, it’s just down to the logistics of ferrying actors, writers, and directors around the world for a local marketing push before dispatching them stateside for one big push at home. Sometimes, a film is released early in Asia, one suspects, to drum up some box office receipts for the studio before the film’s US release and word gets out that it’s not worth seeing in the cinema.
Unfortunately, Seventh Son, falls squarely into the third category.
Taking “inspiration from” (as opposed to “based on”) the first book in Joseph Delany’s Wardstone Chronicles, known in the US as The Last Apprentice series, Seventh Son follows the “Spook” Gregory (Jeff Bridges), the last in a line of legendary witch hunters, each of whom was the seventh son of a seventh son. This order of knights combats magic using a combination of strength and a kind of scientific knowledge, usually a case of knowing the correct herb or type of metal filings to throw in order to nullify or weaken a particular creature.
Spooks and Co.
With the return of an old enemy, queen of the witches Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore), Gregory must seek out a new Seventh Son to train as his apprentice and assist him in confronting Malkin before the Blood Moon, when her power will be at its peak and she plans to destroy all of humanity. Add in a somewhat reluctant hero’s journey, a great cast and a dash of Romeo and Juliet with magical half breeds and you’ve got the middling cod-medieval fantasy adventure on display here. Seventh Son is a very average film that consists of a succession of decidedly odd decisions by the filmmakers.
Number one on that list has to be allowing Jeff Bridges to perform his role using an English version of the mangled, snarling voice that he used for his Rooster Cockburn character in the Coen Brothers’ True Grit. Bridges growls his way through the movie sounding as if he’s chewing on a mouthful of rocks, with many of his lines completely undecipherable.
The rest of the film has a rushed, first pass feeling to it. Early on, soon to be new apprentice Tom Ward (Ben Barnes), yearns for a life of adventure. However, as soon as he’s presented with one on a plate, he turns reluctant, even after the Spook buys him off his “loving” parents. I’m not sure that’s how this arrangement is handled in the books, but surely there must have been some other way to handle this less awkwardly? Once his training does begin, Tom seems to resent it, right up until the moment when a completely accidental encounter with a Boggart inspires him to take up Gregory’s cause. He does this despite his feelings for the half-witch Alice (Alicia Vikander) who’s been spying on them. These changes just happen when the time comes, feeling forced with no real character development to back them up.
Similarly, Gregory’s own motivations change with the running time. Initially, he’s teaching Tom that he prefers to capture or contain the creatures he hunts rather than kill them, despite the nasty fates of his previous apprentices. Then, abruptly, Gregory changes his mind, just in time to prepare for the big showdown.
Mother Malkin beckons you to see this movie!
The production design also shares this hasty feel, with a mix-mash of cultures, costumes and architecture from different time periods and places thrown together. The press notes point out that the production designer, Dante Ferretti, wanted to use a mix of Persian, Turkish and Arabic cultures, amongst others, as inspiration, to get away from the English gothic of Harry Potter and similar films. This seems to be a spectacular case of missing the point, seeing as Delany based the setting of the books on his native Lancashire, England. Perhaps, if a more outlandish, less familiar style had been used instead, it might have come off as otherworldly rather than distracting. Even the dragons that the witches turn into are disappointing, smaller less majestic creates than those seen on TV in Game Of Thrones. Moore’s dragon even sports awful auburn dreadlocks to tie it in with her character
The locations used haven’t been thought out very well either, with Gregory and Tom surrounded by lush, foggy woodlands in one scene, and yet, able to hear the alarm bell from a walled city that seems to exist in a desert environment that’s had some CGI water added in around it.
I’ve not read any of the books, but I’m guessing that fans of the books will not be too impressed either. A quick glance at the book’s Wikipedia page reveals much has changed including Malkin’s initial escape, Alice’s relationship with Malkin and Tom Ward, as well as Malkin’s mystical modus operandi. A henchman of the antagonist in the book becomes a lackey to the protagonist in the film and the ending seems very different.
BACK! You Fool!
The biggest surprise of all is how the film snagged such a well known cast. Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore seems to have the most fun, with Moore vamping around with gusto. Olivia Williams turns up in a minor role and Djimon Hounsou gets to try out the rumour that he’d be cast as Kratos in a film adaptation of Sony’s God of War videogame by throwing around some very familiar looking chain blades.
Seventh Son ends up as a film that just doesn’t entertain or enthrall, as if it’s learned nothing from modern fantasy fare. Not every fantasy film has to be The Lord of The Rings. There’s still plenty of room for smaller scope fantasy, but they need to stand out somehow. Either through action, effects or storyline. A healthy sense of humour might have helped Seventh Son be more enjoyable, but that’s just another area in which it is completely underwhelming.