Seventh Son

Visual effects are no longer a criterion we use to glorify the quality of any Hollywood film. I am saying this because the latest Hollywood fantasy film Seventh Son is a dull entertainer that manages to be a watchable flick only because of its visual composition. With nothing really there in the content to surprise you, Seventh Son is a thoroughly disappointing witch craft from Sergei Bodrov.

Based on the novel, The Spook’s Apprentice the movie basically tells us the revenge story of a witch. Mother Malkin is locked down in a trench on top of the mountains by the spook Gregory. She is imprisoned there for many years and on the day of the blood moon she escapes from there. The revenge seeking witch is now behind Gregory. The Spook needs help of the Seventh son of the seventh son in this battle that doesn’t have much time for preparation. How this plan works is what Seventh Son narrating to us.

Even though the basic ideas may have predictability, some novels work for its readers because of the depth in narration. We will find the characters and backgrounds so real that as a reader we will build a world inside our mind. As a viewer who hasn’t read the book, I have to say that the film lacks depth. The developments are understandably abrupt and that spoils the rhythm of the story too. The basic story has all these elements like the non syncing master and student, the lover girl with an emotional trauma and a solution which is awaiting a back story (the stone in this case). With its less complicated plane narrative, Seventh Son is a hurried journey to touch all these points.

Jeff Bridges as Gregory was nice to see on screen with his rough attitude and some timely humorous dialogue counters. Ben Barnes and Alicia Vikander make a good on screen pair, but acting wise they are just about okay. Julianne Moore has very less to do as the chief antagonist Mother Malkin.

The screenplay is largely on the usual style and they have forgotten to give humor its space. Fantasy stories with predictable content can survive only if there is a fresh humorous writing or a well pitched intellectual side track. The lack of both has made this movie an underwhelming one. The direction of Bodrov can’t rectify these fundamental issues. The characters are speaking the dialogues we already guessed and the on screen developments aren’t enough to create a curiosity. Cinematography along with the usage of visual effects looked nice. Background score is too much at some portions.

Overall Seventh Son is a dull narrative without any surprises. With only CG effects and loud music keeping you awake, the chances of you enjoying this movie is very less. The rating for this son of a witch is 1.5/5.