Seventh Son

The dark fantasy adventure Seventh Son fought a long fight to theaters. I've devoted a whole paragraph to it:

It was first scheduled for February 2013. It went to that October to give bankrupt FX studio Rhythm and Hues more time and resources to complete their work. It went off the schedule when production company Legendary Pictures moved from Warner Bros. to Universal. And now it's here. And it's average.

It's still better than dull.

Directed by Sergei Bodrov (Prisoner of the Mountains, Mongol), this is yet another rendition of a young adult novel. In this case, it's The Spook's Apprentice, the first of The Wardstone Chronicles by Joseph Delaney. The plot is on the next paragraphs.

Tom Ward (Ben Barnes) is an average farmboy. He's also the proverbial seventh son of a seventh son and that qualifies him to be Master Gregory's (Jeff Bridges) apprentice. Master Gregory is a Spook, the last of a knightly order of monster hunters. And he needs an apprentice who won't die like the others.

Master Gregory once left a dangerous witch, Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore), in a pit. Malkin breaks out and sets out for world conquest. She'll be all powerful once the "blood moon" appears. Gregory has to make a fine Spook out of Tom before that happens.

The visual effects get the job done. The CGI allowed for a few convincing monsters and shape-shifting effects. One of Malkin's goons was a four-armed swordsman and that was seamless. Only a few cases of CGI were far too obvious.

As Master Gregory, Jeff Bridges is reliably eccentric. He's a drunk who knows when to get to business. The weird voice signifies his eccentricity. Julianne Moore's evil villainess Malkin is subdued but still cruel. There's a deep history between the two, but Malkin is so wicked it's sometimes hard to feel sympathy for her.

Its story of destiny and evil rising were familiar. You might find nothing new with the story. There was one thing that kept me invested for the 102 minute runtime. That thing was the relationship between Master and Apprentice. There was so much tension between them that I was surprised the Apprentice either didn't quit or got sacked for the sake of plot. That was one thing right, I guess.

Seventh Son is finally here. It's worth-seeing at least once. If you wish to see it more than once, you're more than welcome. As per custom, it's on both Flatscreen and 3D.