Review of Seventh Son (2014) by Gerry M — 29 Mar 2015

Bad to a level that actually could mildly entertain, Seventh Son is one of those January releases that are so poor that nothing but the winter dumping ground for movie releases is suitable for them. A fantasy adventure that is meant to impress with heavy-weight cast, impressive effects and proper action, Seventh Son only amuses with its poor performances and kitschy visual presentation. With some proper action sequences and a strange sort of humor, this winter witch-fantasy is nothing but a mediocre way to waste your time.

Master Gregory (Jeff Bridges) is a knight part of an ancient order which has sworn to protect the world from creatures from the dark world. By chasing witches, monsters, and ghosts, he tries also to train a young guy named Tom (Ben Barnes) to become the next in line to fight the dark world. When an old enemy of Master Gregory, the witch Mother Molkin (Julian Moore) escapes and tries to bring darkness upon the world, Master Gregory and Tom have to go the limits of their abilities in order to defeat Molkin and her small army of witches and monsters.

Surprisingly for such kind of a messy story, the pacing of Seventh Son is quite well and the story development is straight to the point: finding the witch and killing her. Of course, the regular and clichéd romance between Tom and a young half-witch Alicia Vikander is annoying but it suits its purpose in the whole movie. Apart from the awfully overall story and the kitschy special effects, the one thing that truly damages Sergei Bodrov's movie is the terrible acting of the cast. So terrible that it is even amusing, the characters of Julian Moore and Jeff Bridges are like caricatures of the real actors. Moore probably reaches an all-time low in her career with a role that luckily did not cost her the Oscar for Best Actress for Still Alice. Jeff Bridges is even worse. So bad that he is actually the funniest part of the whole movie. Talking, mumbling and with an accent to laugh at, his awfully bad character steals the show from Ben Barnes who is supposed to be the young rising star.

In conclusion, Seventh Son is nothing but a typical January release that very much resembles a previous similar delivery from 2011 (Nicholas Cage's Season of the Witch). Bad to a level that actually almost makes it cool, this is a wanna-be-fantasy-adventure that could be watched at home with some chips and beers without having absolutely any high expectations.