Mania Grade: B-
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Info:
- Reviewed Format: Theatrical Release
- Rated: PG
- Stars: Alexander Ludwig, Ian McShane, Frances Conroy, Christopher Eccleston
- Writer: John Hodge, based on the novel by Susan Cooper
- Director: David L. Cunningham
- Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox/Walden Media
THE SEEKER: THE DARK IS RISING
Looks good, doesn’t feel fulfilling... By Rachel Reitsleff
October 07, 2007
Alexander Ludwig in THE SEEKER: THE DARK IS RISING (2007).
© Fox Walden
The Seeker: The Dark is Rising, adapted from the second in Susan Cooper’s award-winning fantasy book series, looks as though what it’s really seeking is to replicate the success of other normal-to-start-with-boy-has-magical-adventures-in-England films (you may fill in the multiple titles yourself). However, Seeker starts out by changing its young hero, Will Stanton (Alexander Ludwig), from British to American, then has to go through a few narrative convulsions to explain what he and his parents and large group of siblings are all doing in a small English village. This unnecessary nod to commercial non-wisdom does not bode well for later narrative decisions.
After a supernatural incident the local mall scares the heck out of Will (and us) in one of Seeker’s most effective sequences, the 14-year-old soon learns that he is “the last of the Old Ones,” a group whose members are sworn to defend the Light against the Dark, personified here by the Rider (Christopher Eccleston). As the Seeker, Will has five days to search out six “signs,” magical objects that will empower him in the battle, before Dark reaches its zenith and literally covers the world. Will finds that he is able to travel back and forth through time in his quest, though for reasons that aren’t explained in the movie, the signs are fortunately never far away in place. Meanwhile, the Dark is making incursions by creating some Biblically bad weather, and Will frets over the clue about the final sign.
John Hodge of Trainspotting is credited with the script adaptation, which must make so many concessions for exposition that there seems little room for the wit he has displayed elsewhere. Director David L. Cunningham elevates Seeker somewhat by creating consistently magical visuals, and young Ludwig is very game, but the final cut of the film has the look of something that doesn’t really express any single vision. There are emotional goalposts hammered in along the way, but there seems no comprehension of the fact that these effects need to be earned; they won’t evoke a Pavlovian response just because they’re there.
Ian McShane has authority but plays his Old One as resigned and worried rather than ardent about the impending conflict, which makes for a rather peculiar dynamic as Will is receiving his marching orders. On the other hand, Eccleston dives in with relish to his personification of malice – he’s a blast in his way.
There is what looks like a conscious attempt to inject specifically Christian themes into Seeker, which fall short as parable because, again, the movie doesn’t do the set-up right. Despite time spent with Will’s family, we don’t get a sense of how Will’s upbringing has shaped him to help or hinder with his Seeker destiny, he comes to his choices easily, and there’s not a lot of detective work involved in him finding the signs (we guess where the last one is long before the characters do). In fairness, it looks as though large portions of the film may be on a cutting-room floor (or, these days, locked in an Avid) and perhaps an extended version would be much more effective and affecting. What we get has moments that are stunning to see but emotionally bland.
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