SEVENTH SON
DIRECTOR: Sergei Bodrov
CAST: Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, Kit Harington, Ben Barnes, Alicia Vikander, Olivia Williams
CLASSIFICATION: 13 V
RUNNING TIME: 103 minutes
RATING: **
‘I PAID good money for you,” claims Jeff Bridges’s boozing, seemingly British witch hunter to his latest apprentice in Seventh Son, an effects-laden heroic fantasy tale directed by Russian cineaste, Sergei Bodrov.
The same can be said for this rather benign mash-up of The Lord of the Rings and Jack the Giant Slayer (with a bit of Game of Thrones tossed in), which takes an A-list crew and cast – including Julianne Moore sporting a black feather dress and matching eyeliner – and goes nowhere new with it, investing lots in visual effects and locations, but not enough in an original story.
Based on the first book in Joseph Delaney’s The Wardstone Chronicles series – released as The Spook’s Apprentice in the UK and as The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch in the US – the film also features an impressive writing team, with Matt Greenberg (1408) handling story and Charles Leavitt (Blood Diamond) and Steven Knight (Locke) sharing screenplay duties.
But even these pros can go only so far with this derivative affair, where two knights battle witches, ogres and other shape-shifting creatures for control of a forested kingdom. The good guys are led by war-torn wino Master Gregory (Bridges) who is assisted in his duties by a “seventh son of a seventh son” accomplice – a young man born with prophetic visions of doom (Harington).
When he’s quickly disposed of, Gregory finds his next sidekick in Tom Ward (Ben Barnes), a naive farmhand with much to learn about the dark forces, especially when he falls for a gorgeous enchantress (Vikander) doubling as a spy for the bad girls.
It’s not hard to see where this is leading, with master and apprentice joining hands after the usual mishaps, even- tually making their way to the mountaintop lair of evil queen Mother Malkin (Moore), who has decided to unleash havoc for no other clear reason than that Bridges’s character dumped her for his wife a while back.
Talk about motivation.
Otherwise, the film bears some kind of subtext about powerful women being scorned in a world of men, but that idea is never fully exploited by the filmmakers.
Bodrov is best known for his Oscar-nominated drama Prisoner of the Mountains, which he followed with international action flicks including Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Kahn. His style here is serviceable though hardly distinguishing, and nothing in the Seventh Son really pops off the screen.
The film is watchable but far from memorable, and though a closing scene leaves things open for a sequel, business realities may decide otherwise.
If anything, the movie offers up the guilty pleasure of seeing Bridges and Moore duel it out in front of countless green screens and a few stunning backdrops – two great actors clawing at each other with magic staffs and fake fire, trying to survive in the netherworld of heroic kitsch. – The Hollywood Reporter
If you liked The Sorcerer’s Apprentice or Season of the Witch you will like this.