Seventh Son

Plot synopsis:
The evil witch Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore) is imprisoned in a chamber by the town's Spook (fighter of evil creatures and spirits), Master Gregory (Jeff Bridges). After much time has passed, Malkin morphs into her beastly form and breaks free from her confinement in anticipation of the Red Moon.Gregory's apprentice Billy Bradley (Kit Harington) finds Gregory in a tavern. The bells have rung to summon Gregory for help. Billy calls upon him, but the man refuses to leave. Another man attempts to make Gregory go out and help, but Gregory fights the man and takes him down without spilling his drink. Gregory then follows Billy to the home of a small girl that appears to be possessed. Gregory confronts the child and hears her speak in a demonic voice, letting him know that Malkin has come back and is ready to face him again.Gregory and Billy go to find Malkin and confront her. The witch shows herself and taunts Gregory. She turns into a beast again, and Billy latches onto her. He and Gregory try and trap Malkin. They get her into a cage, but Billy gets caught in there with her. Malkin uses her claws and digs into Billy's neck, poisoning and killing him. She retreats, and Gregory yells that he will find her.In a nearby village lives Tom Ward (Ben Barnes) with his sister Cate (Lilah Fitzgerald) and their Mam (Olivia Williams). Tom has visions of spirits and creatures with no idea what they mean. Gregory happens upon them and requests that Tom join him as his new apprentice, for he is the seventh son of a seventh son. Mam allows Tom to go off and train with Gregory, and she leaves him with a stone before he departs.Malkin returns to her lair to find her sister Bony Lizzie (Antje Traue) burnt badly. Malkin restores Lizzie's natural beauty and plots to get back at Gregory.In town, people are gathering around a young woman, Alice (Alicia Vikander), claiming her to be a witch. Tom intervenes and pulls her away from the people at her defense. Alice goes home and we learn that she is Lizzie's daughter and Malkin's niece.Tom stays with Gregory as they will commence his training, along with a troll-like thing named Tusk. At night, Tom wanders from his room and encounters a giant armored creature. He runs from it but Gregory subdues it. Gregory later engages in a duel with Tom, expressing his doubts on the boy and thinking he does not have what it takes to fight against the forces of evil. Tom angrily throws his sword in the direction of Gregory's head, sort of impressing the Spook. He gives Tom a bit of information on Malkin and her cohorts - her lieutenant is a shapeshifter named Radu (Djimon Hounsou), and she has a large group of demonic minions at her disposal. We briefly see Malkin gathering these creatures together.Tom comes across Alice again. He learns that she is indeed a witch, but she asserts the fact that not all of them are evil. She adds that only her mother is a witch, and her father was a gypsy.Gregory is summoned into the city along with Tom to combat a beast that all the men are too afraid to go near. The creature appears as a bear, but is really one of Malkin's shapeshifting minions. Gregory fights the villain and brings it back to its man form. He has Tom go over to finish him off, but Tom cannot bring himself to do it. Gregory burns the villain alive as Tom walks away.Alice finds Tom again. She tells him that Gregory was once in love with a witch. Tom questions what else she knows, but they end up kissing and getting cozy together. Tom then has another vision, this time seeing a huge beast, Malkin sinking her claws into Gregory's throat, and the whole city being consumed in a wave of fire.Tom returns to find Gregory. He tells her that he was married to a witch, but she was murdered by Malkin, thus sparking his hate-filled vendetta against her and other witches.On their continuing journeys, the two encounter a giant monster in the woods. Gregory tells Tom to make a run for it. They outrun the creature and jump over a cliff into the river. They get onto the raft with a stranger, but the monster jumps in after them. It grabs Tom as they go down the rapids. Tom stabs the monster in the head right before they go over the falls. The monster dies but Tom survives. Lizzie finds him in her beast form and threatens to kill him until she spots the stone that his mother gave him. Lizzie claims it belongs to Malkin and she flies away.After Tom reunites with Gregory, he comments on Tom being able to defeat a monster that was thought to be unslayable. He also reveals to Tom that his own mother was a witch, and the stone belonged to Malkin's clan.Lizzie returns to Malkin and tells her about the stone. The witches and their minions take on their beast forms and attack the city. Mam gets her daughter to safety before using her witch powers to fight back against the minions. Malkin grabs her and calls her a traitor before killing her.Alice comes across Tom one more time and steals the stone from him. More of Malkin's minions led by Radu come and attack Tom and Gregory. Although they fight back, the minions capture Gregory and leave Tom for dead. Tom then has a vision of his mother, who tells him that she was killed by Malkin. She inspires him to fulfill his destiny and defeat her.The witches gather as Malkin attempts to seduce Gregory into joining forces with her and the clan. Remorseful of her actions, Alice grabs the stone from Malkin and runs away with it, breaking Malkin's hold on Gregory. The minions attack, but Tom arrives in time and starts to burn them. Radu turns into a dragon and confronts Gregory, while Malkin turns into a beast and flies to kill Alice, with Lizzie turning into a beast and trying to stop her sister. Gregory challenges Radu to fight him as a man, and he ends up killing Radu when he uses Radu's blade hands on him. Lizzie brings Malkin down to the ground, but Malkin kills Lizzie in front of Alice.Gregory confronts Malkin in her room as she appears close to death. He conceals a knife, but Malkin grabs him with her claws. Tom arrives and throws a blade at Malkin, killing her. He finishes her off by burning her body.Tom and Alice part with a kiss. He believes he is set to depart with Gregory, but Gregory tells him he is ready to stay with Tusk and defend the town as the new Spook. Gregory leaves, and the bells start to ring to call upon Tom.

Tags: comedy, fantasy, murder, violence, good versus evil, psychedelic, humor, romantic, revenge

Review:
It isn't easy to make a good fantasy film – as borne out by Seventh Son, which has suffered a particularly arduous journey to the silver screen.
The film isn't exactly great, but it's a largely entertaining romp that's more inspired by than strictly faithful to Joseph Delaney's series of bestselling books.Tom Ward (Ben Barnes) is the seventh son of a seventh son: a rare genetic lineage that sets him on the path to becoming a Spook a.k.a., a slayer of the myriad evil creatures that haunt the land.
He becomes the apprentice of grizzled, alcohol-addled John Gregory (Jeff Bridges), shortly after Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore), an evil witch, escapes her earthly prison to claim the world as her own.
It's actually quite nice to see a fantasy world that doesn't simply perpetuate the trope of the wicked witch, but instead dreams up characters that fall along a broad spectrum of morality.Barnes is well-cast as Tom, holding his own as both a hero and quasi-romantic lead.
But there are considerably more thrills to be had with Bridges, who manages to fold charm, menace and darkness into Gregory; and Moore, who's clearly having plenty of fun cutting her way through scenes as a whirlwind of madness and malevolence.By all accounts, Seventh Son should really have been an outright flop.
But, for pretty much everyone else, Seventh Son is an entertaining, undemanding film with some good ideas and a lot of fun moments.
Delayed nearly a year while its production company Legendary switched studios, this Universal release assembles A-listers Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore with 'The Chronicles of Narnia' star Ben Barnes for an expensive big- screen adaptation of the first book of Joseph Delaney's 'The Wardstone Chronicles' against tawdry sets and second-rate visual effects.We aren't usually that critical of a film's production design, but there is just something awfully dreary about the widescreen world of Russian director Sergei Bodrov's debut English-language feature.
Indeed, the only human city where any of the action takes place looks like it was rented right after the cast and crew of 'Game of Thrones' abandoned it, while the mountain fortress which principal villain Mother Malkin makes her not-so-humble abode seems like it was designed for some 1960s B-grade science-fiction movie.
Whether the oversized orcs or shape-shifting witches (Moore and her fellow consort Djimon Hounsou transform into dragons, while others transform into creatures with reptilian-like tongues or Hindu deity-like arms), the CG effects for what was once intended to be a franchise tentpole are both unimaginatively conceived and poorly executed, even more appalling when viewed in post-conversion 3D or worse on an IMAX screen.And yet to fault its technical shortcomings seems at least a tad unfair, in particular because the movie's problems are much more fundamental.
It is packed with every cliché you find in the genre however it is still entertaining with its action set pieces, decent CGI and 3D.The story: Jeff Bridges plays a gruff Master Gregory who has lost his apprentice (Kit Harington) during a fight with a powerful witch (Julianne Moore).
In fact, one of the side characters, the deformed humanoid Tusk, even shifts over from evil in the book to good in the film.The visual effects were hit and miss, some (like the creature transformations) were impressive and seamless, but some (like the conflagrations) looked old-fashioned and garishly fake.
-Seventh Son (2015) movie review: -Seventh Son is a fantasy/adventure film about the last man in an order of knights that were basically medieval Ghostbusters.
He takes on a new, young apprentice who is destined for greatness and blah blah blah prophecy, blah blah blah training, blah blah blah evil threat, blah blah blah fulfil his destiny type of thing.-The entire film is like a cliché video game complete with boss battles, side-quests, and gaining new equipment.
However it has some entertainment value to it, so really, if you don't care about predictability and music, Seventh Son would actually be worth watching on Nexflix.-It is PG-13 for some light violence, scary-ish images, dealings with things like sorcery, and a random F-word.
Seventh Son has a lot of potential, the special effects are good, the action scenes are interesting, and the cast is amazing but something doesn't gel.
The hunter of supernatural creatures Master Gregory (Jeff Bridges) traps the queen of the witches Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore) is a pit on the top of a mountain.
There is a cameo of Kit "Jon Snow" Harington in the role of Master Gregory's apprentice; the gorgeous Julianne Moore does not seem to age and performs the evil Mother Malkin; Olivia Williams has a minor but important role of the mother and good witch; the Swedish actress Antje Traue, the Ava of "Ex-Machina", is very beautiful and talented.
I've just watched this, on the same day I saw the new "Mad Max" (in 3-D, no less), and I have to say that, despite the almost universally dismissive reviews you'll find online, I found "Seventh Son" ten times more enjoyable than the empty and overheated "Max." And also -- thanks to its engaging characters -- considerably more suspenseful.
It is a horribly bad film that I advise against watching.The books themselves are a sort of Harry Potterish thing for children, replacing Hogwarts with a grumpy fighter against the creatures of the dark and Harry with a rare "seventh son of a seventh son" that is traditionally employed in this "spook" business.
But all in all, they were actually pretty good.In the end, Seventh Son is an extremely fun, cheesy adventure movie that is worth seeing in theaters.
You can feel that in his performance, this playfulness with the material.It's Similar to what he did in RIPD, which makes this movie look like Lord of the Rings.You go to see Bridges in it, despite the fact that his role is that of a knight who mentors The hero, the seventh son of a seventh son, to be a witch hunter.
Seventh Son is a fantasy movie about an apprentice being brought up to defeat an evil witch that is terrorizing the land.
Simply skip this one.Full Review:The first trailers for Seventh Son made the movie seem like a mediocre fantasy flick.
And I have to say, thank God I didn't see it in 3D because it would have been a waste of time and money in my opinion.The story was neither original nor compelling (I should mention, that I have not read The Spook's Apprentice and I didn't even know that it was based on a novel until the end credits).Ben Barnes doesn't electrify on-screen.
Not even the always watchable Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, Olivia Williams and Djimon Hounsou could save this movie.I'm a huge fan of fantasy action adventure movies but everything in the Seventh Son, the romance, the action scenes, the dialog, etc.
It was mediocre at best and while the whole movie going experience (popcorn, coke, previews, excitement) was not bad the movie itself left a lot to be desired.I've been trying to sum up why this movie was a letdown and I think that it can be summed up thus, lacking in interesting plot and heart.The plot is the same, done to death plot done (better) by many-a fantasy and action/adventure movie and does little to stray from the formulaic.
There was no heart in any of these characters nor between any of them and the movie itself felt like someone had replaced its heart with a computer chip that delivered the story line rote.I almost found myself bored at certain points and my mom was disappointed too (and that's saying something since in my family my mom is famous for loving awful movies).It is hard to believe that Julianne Moore and Jeff Bridges could deliver such flat uninspiring characters, but they did.
It is not a "wow great" kind of movie but definitely enjoyable to watch, at least if you are a fan of fantasy, magic, dragons and such like.The movie is based on a book which I have not read although I believe it is considered as a young adult book.
Then Julianne Moore is definitely better as the evil witch.No movie where fantasy, magic and dragons are among the main themes can be without special effects.
How Joseph Delaney could allow them to tear apart what was such a unique and incredible story, and turn it into another terrible fantasy cliché is beyond me.There is so much wrong with the film I don't even know where to start, in the books Tom Ward was a boy of twelve, so why do they then go and cast someone who looks 26?
Competent acting from a well known and likable ensemble cast, Julianne Moore chews up her scenes with delight as the villainess, while Jeff Bridges delivers some great lines and the atmosphere beautiful misty fantasy like cinematography combine to bring us this classic styled matinée popcorn movie.I wasn't aware of its production history and it takes nothing away from enjoying it for what it is a well made fun filled fantasy action adventure beautifully shot in truly eye-popping 3D.
Unlike some of the other reviewers and critics here, I LIKED THIS MOVIE!It was a good fantasy action film and had a decent story line.
Not only was it much better quality and not cropped at the edges like the YT version, but it had some nice bonus features I also enjoyed watching, e.g. the "making of" in several facets was best, giving some insight into the creative process, the Legend and Lore of the Seventh Son (not great but passable), and a few entries in the Visual Effects Gallery.
Seventh Son is a film adaptation of "The Spook's Apprentice", and while I won't pretend to have read the book, as I haven't, I feel I can still accurately judge the movie.
Also helping the film out is Julianne Moore (Still Alice, Mockingjay pt 1) who plays Mother Malkin, she manages to bring an over the top possibility down to Earth and even a little humble, she has done a marvelous job with her character and even though she is the "bad guy" you can't help but root for her in some places, and that's about all the goodness the film has to offer.
The books written by Joseph Delaney had the potential of becoming a greater movie franchise than Harry Potter,but the Director,Writer,Cast,Studio of this movie ruined that chance completely.The movie keeps some of the original characters,but their stories are completely different in the worst way possible.It doesn't make sense at all...10 books of 300+pages each were turned into a single movie of 102 minutes,and that is a shame in my opinion.At the end of the movie Tom is already a Spook and Master Gregory leaves him for good.He is trained in 10 days to become a spook and in the end he becomes an excellent knife thrower,unlike the books in which he was trained for many years to become a spook.But well..in the movie spooks need to know how to throw a knife at the enemy,no other skills are needed.Maybe in a sequel Tom will be able to defeat a boggart with that knife..who knows..In addition to it's awful representation of the books,the dialogs and the action of this movie are awful as well.There is nothing memorable..everything is predictable and forgettable.Also,the interpretation of most characters,except Master Gregory is not convincing at all.The only good things about this movie are some special effects..but that's nothing new for a movie released in 2015.In conclusion,I believe this movie is a waste of time and money and you should avoid it..
"We will meet again."Seventh Son is Sergey Bodrov's (Mongol) latest fantasy epic film starring Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, Alicia Vikander, and Ben Barnes.
While the queen can summon many powerful allies such as Radu (Djimon Hounsou) and Urag (Jason Scott Lee) who can turn into monsters, Master Gregory loses his well trained apprentice (Kit Harington) and has to fight the witches with a totally inexperienced new young man (Ben Barnes) who then makes the dangerous mistake to fall in love with one of the witches (Alice Vikander)...The majority of reviewers have been quite mean at this movie, but I have to say that I enjoyed it.
This could have been a great fantasy movie, instead it's just good looking action with an unusual, grumpy old hero.
Seventh SonThe best thing about going to a witch burning is the crone-flavoured s'mores everyone gets to enjoy afterwards.Unfortunately, the townsfolk in this fantasy will have to put their bonfire on hold.Empowered by the approaching Blood Moon, sorceress supreme Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore) is freed from the confines of a grizzled knight, Master Gregory (Jeff Bridges), killing his apprentice during her escape.Tasked with recapturing Malkin before her newfound powers enslave humanity, Gregory must first recruit a replacement apprentice to aid him on this quest.While legend dictates it to be the seventh son (Ben Barnes) of a seventh son, Gregory truly doubts his new pupil's witch-hunter abilities.With a derivative mentor/mentee adventure script, a baffling accent from Bridges, and too many awkward-looking creature designs to mention, this adaption of the YA book series is embarrassingly outdated and insipid.Besides, the only apprentice an armoured knight needs is WD-40.
Audiences might enjoy the showdown of the apprentice and the witches leading by the chemistry between Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore, but it does not leave any long lasting impression even after the film has been postponing for a long post production time.
In the film adaptation of Joseph Delany's, The Wardstone Chronicles, Thomas Ward is the seventh son of a seventh son and is chosen by the local 'spook', John Gregory (Jeff Bridges), to fight off the multitude of dark characters that inhabit their world, such as witches, boggarts, and ghouls.
I like some films for that.All the actors seem comfortable in there roles, Jeff Bridges seems to be having the most fun, giving a Jack Sparrow like performance has the Spook, and Julianne Moore has the evil witch, second time they have worked together, first was The Big Lebowski(1998).
Chappy Watched: Seventh Son. Didn't know a great deal about this film but I do like fantasy films and Julianne Moore and Jeff Bridges were in it.That still didn't stop it from being a sh*t film.The script wasn't great, the romance between the Seventh Son and the witch had NO chemistry and felt very forced, he told her that he loved her after seeing each other three bloody times!I've seen better dragons.
The Evil Witch Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore) is out of her prison and is more powerful than ever; and she kills Master Gregory's (Jeff Bridges) apprentice and now he must find a new one.
If you are a film buff or explore a wide range of movies, then you will probably consider this a waste of your time.However, although the same story that we see all the time, it nonetheless has many entertaining elements and fight scenes, so if you are a fan of the fantasy genre, or perhaps have read the book, then you will probably not be disappointed with this film - nor will you be especially pleased either.The Best aspects: Olivia Williams was great.
Seventh Son is a middle of the road feature, and you can take it or leave it, fantasy fans will take it and everyone else will leave it.Seventh Son reads as fanfic, not even a particularly poor one at that, it's just so uninspired and at times caricaturized that it never manages to be anything more than uninspired fantasy drivel.Apparently based loosely off a book by Joseph Delaney, Seventh Son follows a a master fighter of the dark arts (called Spooks) as he wards off witches and evil spirits, hopefully for good with his most recent apprentice Thomas, who he hopes will live long enough to pick up the trade.Even for the unknown film goer, something about Seventh Son doesn't seem copacetic, as if the typical Hollywood bludgeoning of creative material is in store, and it appears valid.
I say must watch if you are fan of fantasy movies and like beautiful witches and demon type movies.Story is about a apprentice who learns how to kill demons and get trained by a old man.
Juliane Moore as the evil witch is a prime example.The special effects in this one are both hits and misses, occasionally they get it right but occasionally it looks almost like a SyFy presentation, the actual scenery is well filmed at all time though.So yeah, I reckon this is a movie that might come out with a extended director's cut at some point that will be far more full-fleshed but for now we have to settle for this watered down sausage..
It feels like the screenwriter asked the author to quickly summarized vague informations about the books, after which he decided to ignore most of them and add unnecessary components to the story.If you want to make Tom the titular character ooze sex appeal by turning him into a 40 year old looking- suppose to play a 20 year old actor-to attract more demography fine i guess, but making mother malkin hot when she is supposed to be a evil and disgusting baby eating witch....Julianne Moore I thought you were better than that...
Jeff Bridges is sort of a humorous medieval Buffalo-Bill-looking knight determined to destroy the witch--Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore), and to accomplish that, he recruits the Seventh Son, the country boy, Tom (Ben Barnes).
After seeing a trailer or two I was actually quite excited about seeing Seventh Son. Its been awhile since I've seen a good fantasy medieval film and I was looking forward to it.
Okay, I agree that it is the same tired old fantasy story with some great special effects, and it did feel a little lame, especially as we get to the end of the film, but that didn't mean I didn't like it.