Seventh Son: Movie Review
I would like to think that there is some sort of bet between the head of Warner Bros. and the head of Universal about which of their big-budget CGI filled fantasies that are being released this will suck more? “Seventh Son” (Universal) and “Jupiter Ascending” (Warner Bros) are both bad, but “Seventh Son” stinks a whole lot less than the bloated space saga it is up against. Both films have been on the shelves for awhile, pushing back release dates which is rarely a good sign. What is ironic, is that if you look back at the first trailers for “Seventh Son” that were released back in 2013, it was originally a Warner Bros. film. What happened was when Universal took over partnership with Legendary Pictures, “Seventh Son” was thrown into the package. Warner Bros, were most likely happy to get rid of it.
After a couple of misses (“R.I.P.D.”, “The Giver”), Jeff Bridges was about due for a hit. Sadly, he will have to wait a bit longer for one. At least the veteran actor seems to be having some fun with the long hair and the increasingly strange accents. He sounds more like a cartoon character here as Master Gregory, a Spook that travels the land putting an end to witches and other creatures of darkness. After losing his apprentice to the evil witch Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore), he seeks out a seventh son of a seventh son as a replacement and he finds one in young pig farmer Tom Ward (Ben Barnes).
There isn’t much originality in “Seventh Son”. It seems to borrow elements of so many other films, but thanks to Bridges and Moore and the pacing, things are kept mildly entertaining. The dialogue is horrendous but to be honest, I expected that. We get plenty of battles with large bears, blind underground giants, and dragons and I liked that Bridges’ character was kind of a jerk. I also liked Alicia Vikander as the young witch in love with the film’s hero.
Regardless of the few positive things about “Seventh Son”, I still can’t recommend that you go out and see it theatrically. It is still pretty bad but if you are determined to see a new release this weekend, you are better off with this one than “Jupiter Ascending”.
By: Marc Ferman
