Movie Review: The Seventh Son (2015)

IMDb plot synopsis: Young Thomas is apprenticed to the local Spook to learn to fight evil spirits. His first great challenge comes when the powerful Mother Malkin escapes her confinement while the Spook is away.

Rating: 6/10

We went to the movies without a clear idea what we wanted to watch, and this was our only choice because Best of Me was sold out (hey, the first few months of movies are always slow and no matter how formulaic, a Nicholas Sparks adaption is just soppy enough for girlsnight).

This is definitely not the best movie I’ve ever seen, but it wasn’t that bad either. I felt at some stages they weren’t sure where they were heading with the movie, and it wasn’t always clear what was going on.

What I liked:

Julianne Moore as Mother Malkin: JM makes a good supernatural character. She looked very fierce and powerful, gave a good performance and her costume was amazing.

Ben Barnes as Tom: I haven’t seen this cutie pie in anything for ages. I think I’ve only seen him in the Chronicles of Narnia, the second one, which is sad because I think he has viable talent that needs exploring.

Kit Harrington: He wasn’t in long, but I really do like him and am excited that he is doing more stuff than GoT, because it would be crap if he disappeared should that show ever finish (touch wood, please)

Seventh-Son-Trailer-2-6

Mother Malkin’s lieutenants were well done even if most of them died ridiculously easy.

What I didn’t like:

All the cheese: That relationship between Tom and Alice was so cheesy from the start, and it wasn’t the good kind either. Cheese can be enjoyable when done right, but it wasn’t in here, and I think my lost Best of Me movie would have had less cheese in it.

How easy it was to kill the witches: These witches are centuries old, they are feared with good reason and legends surround them, and yet in the end Tom kills Mother Malkin by throwing a knife at her. Hmmm, why did no one throw a knife at her the first time she was captured?

Jeff Bridges almost tries to be a Gandalf like character: If someone can back me on this I would appreciate it but Jeff’s performance – the way he spoke, the rambling he would do, the surprising agility and strength and his general behavior smacked of Gandalf.

This is why you should take your makeup off before going to bed.

Overall, neither the worst or best movie ever, but this is definitely secondary to all other things in the fantasy/epic genre. If you need to pass a few hours relatively easy, this is probably not a bad idea to watch then.