Seventh Son

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Seventh Son is the story of Thomas Ward, a young man who learns that he has a great destiny because he is the seventh son of a seventh son. My point is, you’ve absolutely seen the story of the hero and mentor done before, and done better. This case can easily be seen through the stories of characters like Luke Skywlaker, Harry Potter, and Neo, just to name a few. Lead actor Ben Barnes is charmless, dull, and lifeless in his performance. He has no charisma with any of his co-stars, least of all, his equally dull romantic foil, a witch played by Alicia Vikander. Barnes’s casting is all the more sad when you realize the far more talented Kit Harrington is cast to only appear in the first ten minutes, and ends up giving the best performance in the movie, in my opinion. Oscar-caliber performers like Jeff Bridges, Djimon Honsou, and Julianne Moore should be able to save the film. However, the two each overact to the point that they just come off as comical and embarrassing. Hell, Bridges seems to lack absolutely any interest in being in the movie, and just seems more content with drunk-mumbling all of lines. The writing for the movie is also very weak, and some of the plot elements feel either A.) rushed, B.) glossed-over, C.) unanswered, or in other cases D.) all of the above. To be fair, Seventh Son isn’t a total loss, however. As I’ve said, Kit Harrington gives what I consider to be the movie’s best performance. The visual effects are, in my opinion, actually really good, and some of the landscapes look great. Sergei Bodrov’s direction is a bit of a mixed bag. He doesn’t seem to be able to direct the dramatic moments very comfortably, and while the action sequences do look good, they also aren’t filmed with enough flair for them to stand out.

4 / 10