Popcorn Review! - Seventh Son (2014)

The Film/ TV Adap: Seventh Son.

The Bookish Inspiration: The Wardstone Chronicles/The Spook's Apprentice by Joseph Delaney (published in the US as The Last Apprentice series.)

Main Cast: Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, Ben Barnes, Alicia Vikander.

Director: Sergei/Sergey Bodrov.

BBFC Rating: 12A.

Amazon: UK - USA.



Opening credits:


I'd never read any of the books by Joseph Delaney, so didn't really know what to expect when watching this film - except that it looked kind of high fantasy-ish and was based on kids' books which are aimed at sort of 11 or 12-ish and up.


Premise:

'Spook' Master Gregory (Jeff Bridges) recruits a seventh son, Thomas Ward (Ben Barnes,) to become his new apprentice in the fight against bad magic and the diabolical plots of the evil sorceress Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore.)

Is this the life Thomas wants to lead? And can they stop Mother Malkin?


Best bits:

Julianne Moore is decidedly both batty and beautiful in this film - and clearly enjoyed playing the part. B**ch be crazy.

I love all the robes and the magic and the Ye Olde Worlde feel to this film - it makes it seem more believable, and more involving.

Ben Barnes and Alicia Vikander clearly have a level of on-screen chemistry which made their will-they-won't-they relationship feel more engaging. I really liked this aspect, because unlike most romance, this didn't feel forced, and managed to contribute to the plot by creating questions of loyalty and morality.

Oh, and there's a bit part for Kit Harington, which is always good.

Not so great bits:

Parts of this felt... under-developed? I don't know - I guess that there was so much plot to cram in that the subtler nuances sometimes got left in the dust.

I felt like maybe this was trying to be too many things at once, instead of grabbing one or two of the main themes and playing them out.

There's a bunch of violence, implied sexy times, and some gore/horror which may not be suitable for everyone.


Popcorn Worthy?

This was a sort of background-noise, veg-out film, rather than something which blew my world. It was still watchable, still enjoyable - just missing a little bit of the wow factor.



Buy Now UK – Buy Now USA - IMDb



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