Helping compensate, though, are the rough action scenes, a few dark emotional shadows and an overall intelligence that shines through the special effects. We've already seen just about everything here, from the ancient amulet to the grunting monsters. What "Seventh Son" lacks is a new angle on an old world. Olivia Williams adds a note of tenderness as Tom's mother.
There's also a youthful romance between Tom and a mysterious girl, Alice (Alicia Vikander), that feels convincingly sweet and urgent. Barnes' Tom is appealingly smart and has a stiff spine, and even though Bridges is basically playing a Zen surfer in medieval garb, the two actors develop an easy, comfortable rapport. Its hero is Tom Ward (Ben Barnes), whose mystical birth order makes him the ideal apprentice for Master Gregory (Bridges), a witch-hunter known as The Spook. The screenwriting team includes Steven Knight, whose dialogue-driven drama "Locke" was a critical smash last year.ĭoes all this add up to excellence? No, but "Seventh Son" is not bad and sometimes even reaches good. The Russian director, Sergei Bodrov (1997's Oscar-nominated Tolstoy adaptation "Prisoner of the Mountains"), breathes life into the action even when his screen is covered with computer-animated beasties. The cast is strong and includes Julianne Moore, clearly enjoying herself as Mother Malkin, a dark queen who swans around like Joan Crawford in feathered shoulder pads. It will surprise no one to learn that "Seventh Son" is based on a young-adult novel, "The Last Apprentice," by Joseph Delaney.Īs it happens, "Seventh Son" is a good example of what can happen when you assemble enough talent under one roof. The movie is rather familiar-looking, with its dragons, demons, come-hither witches and Jeff Bridges playing a bearded guru. You may not be expecting much from the supernatural action-adventure film "Seventh Son," and clearly neither is Universal Pictures, which has consigned the movie to the wintry graveyard of February.
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