Seventh Son Directed by: Sergey Bodrov Starring: Jeff Bridges, Ben Barnes, Julianne Moore Rating: Not Yet Rated Release Date: January 17, 2014
Trailer Score: 5/10
Thoughts by TSR: This trailer has played before the last few films I saw in the theater, and every time I can’t help but meet it with a giant shrug. Nothing in it looks particularly bad, but nothing looks particularly great either. I’m getting a Snow White and the Huntsman vibe actually. There is plenty of pretty, albeit often CG enhanced, imagery on display, something they both have in common. And the way Julianne Moore is gobbling up the scenery as the film’s villain certainly brings to mind Charlize Theron’s master class as the evil Queen. Unfortunately, this just looks like a bunch of fantasy elements thrown together in a cauldron with the result being no real style of its own.
“Wait just a minute,” you say. “This film has Jeff Bridges!” It certainly does, and it’s a dark day when two straight Jeff Bridges movies fail to get me excited. Here he’s once again putting on a goofy, often distracting voice. Credit where credit is due, there are a couple Bridges moments I like. I can’t deny that it’s kind of cool seeing him wielding a staff and posing after he clocks a guy. Then there’s the end when the dragon breathes in his face. That reminds me of the moment in True Grit when he says, “You are not LaBoeuf.” Those are two very minor bright spots, though, which leaves some of the creature design and appearances by Alicia Vikander and Djimon Hounsou as the trailers biggest bright spots. This film is based on the fantasy novel “The Spook’s Apprentice.” I might be most broken up that they didn’t keep that title. At least it has more character than anything in this trailer.