By Riaz Mamdani
Staff Writer
Ever since Jeff Bridges won an Oscar in 2010 for his performance as a drunken musician who mumbles a lot in “Crazy Heart,” he also played a drunken U.S. Marshal who mumbles a lot in “True Grit,” a U.S. marshal who mumbles a lot in “R.I.P.D,” and now a drunken knight who mumbles a lot in “Seventh Son.” To put it simply, “Seventh Son” does not have anything unique going for it.
The medieval fantasy film “Seventh Son,” directed by Sergey Bodrov, is flawed from the start, as it is weighed down both by its dull and linear plot progression and its uncreative characters.
“Seventh Son” is a fantasy film that begins when Master Gregory (Bridges), a Spook, or a knight devoted to eradicating creatures of evil from Earth, loses his apprentice to the wicked witch queen known as Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore).
Gregory, in a final desperate attempt to keep Malkin from destroying the world, finds a new apprentice named Tom (Ben Barnes). Together, they embark on a quest to dethrone Malkin and continue the legacy of the Spooks.
“Seventh Son” begins with a series of poorly directed and confusing scenes that introduce various and unrelated narrative threads with no feeling of connection, starting the film off with an annoying sense of amateurism.
Furthermore, the film is weighed down by the absence of meaningful character development. For example, Tom and Gregory show no signs of character growth throughout the entire story and prevent the viewer from becoming invested in the plot or forming any genuine connections with the characters.
In addition, the insipid script, written by Charles Leavitt and Steven Knight, is overflowing with vapid dialogue that not only hinders the already-dismal character development, but also furthers the film’s emptiness. This lack of meaningful content is seen through the countless lifeless interactions between Tom and the half-witch Alice (Alicia Vikander), who he unconvincingly falls in love with, robbing the film of any possible entertainment value.
The main flaw in “Seventh Son” is the banal plot. The conflict is introduced almost immediately, with the escape of Mother Malkin, and the entire duration of the film has a linear trajectory to the finish, following Tom and Gregory’s journey to defeat her. At no point in the film is there any experimentation or creativity, leaving only an uninspired conflict of the forces of good versus evil.
Overall, “Seventh Son” is a complete disappointment, with an inauthentic story, poor character development and vapid dialogue. The film’s generic and formulaic plot progression is what ultimately hinders it from any semblance of success.
“Seventh Son” is rated PG-13 and is playing in theaters nationwide.
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