The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising (5 October 2007)
directed by David L. Cunningham
starring Alexander Ludwig, Christopher Eccleston, Ian McShane, Frances Conroy, James Cosmo, Jim Piddock, Amelia Warner, John Benjamin Hickey, Wendy Crewson, Emma Lockhart, Drew Tyler Bell, Edmund Entin, Gary Entin, Gregory Smith, Jordan J. Dale, Maria Miroiu
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MPAA rating: Studio: Marc Platt Productions, 20th Century Fox, Walden Media Script: John Hodge Based on the book by: Susan Cooper Music: Christophe Beck Running time: 94 minutes Tags: Adventure; birthdays; Drama; Fantasy; fire; horses; novel adaptation; snakes; Thriller; time travel; witches Tactical strength: [6/10]
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for fantasy action and some scary images
For some reason, Will Stanton's parents move his entire family to England. A family tragedy prompted John and Mary Stanton (John Benjamin Hickey and Wendy Crewson) to leave the United States. Will (Alexander Ludwig) seems to have adjusted well to life in England, and the film opens to Will and his classmates joyfully leaving school for the Christmas holiday break. On the bus ride home, Will sees a beautiful girl, but doesn't have the guts to go talk to her. At home, Will's oldest brother, Max, has come home from college and takes over Will's room, forcing Will to move to the attic. Will doesn't get too depressed, since he will turn fourteen the next day. But turning fourteen brings Will some unusual gifts.
The local rich lady, Miss Greythorne (Frances Conroy), throws a holiday party. At the party, Will gets mad when one of his brothers brings Maggie Barnes (Amelia Warner) -- the girl from the bus -- as his date. Will goes outside to walk off his anger, and get assaulted by a man on a horse who calls himself The Rider (Christopher Eccleston). The Rider demands that Will give him the signs, but before Will can even protest, Miss Greythorne, her butler (Ian McShane) and two grounds keepers (James Cosmo and Jim Piddock) drive off the Rider. The group introduces themselves as "The Old Ones." They claim to have lived for centuries waiting for Will, whom they call the Seeker. Since will has turned fourteen, he has become the Seeker, and he has five days to find six signs, or the Rider will ascend to power and envelope the entire world in darkness. The Old Ones take will back in time to an ancient castle and show him a book that only the Seeker can read. He reads that he has special powers and about the six signs that he must locate.
The story progresses along typical fantasy lines. Will begins to find signs, and the Rider begins to assault Will and the town. The more signs Will finds, the more serious the Rider's threats -- to the point that Will must succeed or his entire family will perish. The acting at times seems a bit corny, but I think more of the blame goes to the script than the actors performances. After their success with The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, you would think Walden Media could spend a little more time and money polishing the script, but The Seeker has about the same artistic merits as their previous venture Hoot. The film could have used about 20 minutes more screen time. By the time Will learns that he must seek out the six signs, he only has about 10 minutes of screen time each to find the signs. The Seeker has it fun and scary moments, but the threat of evil -- in spite of its well demonstrated power -- feels hollow, and the teenage protagonist too easily defeats in five days a force that has had thousands of years to prepare.
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