1:31 PM
ArtsNFashion
 |
| Thrills, dragons and goblins |
Director: Sergey
Bodrov
Studio: Universal Pictures/Legendary Pictures/China Film Co.
Cast: Jeff
Bridges, Julianne Moore, Ben Barnes, Djimon Hounsou, Kit Harrington, Olivia
Williams, Jason Scott Lee, Alicia Vikander
Review by James Colt
Harrison
Despite hazards along the way---the special effects
company went bankrupt, Warner Bros. pulled out of a distribution deal, a rookie
Russian director handed the reigns, and a two-year post-production time--- Seventh Son has survived all the
disasters and turns out to be a fairly entertaining action film. At last! A
fantasy adventure that teen-age boys will love---and maybe you will, too.
Preparing to hate the movie because fantasy
dragon stories are not this reviewer’s favorite genre, we sat back and felt we
might as well enjoy the 3D cinematography of Newton Thomas Sigel. Mr.Sigel uses
the three dimensional cameras as naturally as he can, and very little of the
on-screen action is thrown off the screen and into the audience for shear “scare”
tactics. It’s like seeing with real eyes!
Allegedly shot in British Columbia and various
other exotic locations, the look of the film is sumptuous and not sleazy as one
would think. The money is on the screen; the story is not. Written by Charles
Leavitt, Steven Knight and Matt Greenburg, the boys have adapted Joseph
Delaney’s fantasy novels into a road-company version of Lord of the Rings. There aren’t any cute little creatures in this
film, but there are plenty of ugly flying goblins, oversized bears, eyeless
monsters, smokey ghosts and shape-shifting witches and dragons. Kids will be delighted---and scared
out of their wits.
Boiled down to a gnat sized plot, the story is
essentially that at one time Jeff Bridges rejected Julianne Moore’s romantic advances.
Nothing like a woman scorned as they say, and she takes out her revenge in
ridiculous proportions.
In a battle to gain control of the forest-laden
kingdom, the good guys must do battle with the evil witches and dragons.
Julianne Moore plays a fetching witch who is, of course, evil or there would be
no reason for her part. Filmed through what must be camera filters made of
linoleum, Ms. Moore again looks 20 years old and beautiful. Bridges plays
Master Gregory, a wine-soaked battle veteran who hasn’t washed or shaved in
decades. Bridges mistakenly thought if he improvised some sort of a mangled
British accent he would seem more authentic. Not! He merely sounds as though he
is suffering with a bad set of loose dentures or is gargling with marbles instead
of mouthwash. He’s completely incomprehensible, and that may have added to his
acting skills. Perhaps the Academy should petition to take back his Oscar®.
In an obvious attempt to appeal to the young
set, handsome Ben Barnes is given the job as Tom Ward, the Seventh Son of the
Seventh Son and is recruited as an apprentice to gnarly Bridges. Just barely
out of his boyhood himself, Barnes must act as a man and save the kingdom.
Along the way, the producers threw in a fledgling actress named Alicia Vikander
as sex appeal. They are both cute and huggable and we root for them to get
together.
It’s actually an enjoyable action film with
plenty to see, terrific special effects, some revealing costumes for the ladies
(from designer Jacqueline West), and smashingly decorative production design
from Italian Dante Ferretti. (Moore’s Moroccan-style lair is dazzling).
So, Seventh Son probably won’t enter the records as a classic, but it’s
good enough to keep you amused for a time.
Find ArtsNFashion on FB and Twitter:
0 comments:
Post a Comment