"Swing and a miss!"

The Seeker (2007) is loosely based on the novel "The Dark is Rising" which was written by Susan Cooper and released in 1973. The story revolves around young American Will Stanton who moves to England with his family when his father takes a job at the local University. Will, who is the seventh son of a seventh son, soon discovers that he has unique powers and is an "Old One", a warrior for the side of good. He meets others of his kind and finds that he is a part of an age old battle between good and evil. Will is told by his mentor, Merriman Lyon, that his role in the upcoming battle is to find ancient artifacts of power created to help the forces of light defeat the forces of darkness. He is constantly menaced by "The Rider" and his evil minions while searching through time for the signs (artifacts). Along the way he must come to grips with his teenage angst, problems with his family, and of course dealing with the opposite sex.

The Dark is Rising was one of the first fantasy books, and series of books, I ever read and I was really looking forward to this movie's release. Susan Cooper's book won the Newbury Award, among others, for a reason and the director of this film probably should have stuck to the book. David Cunningham, however, went in another direction which could have been fine if he would have done it well. Unfortunately, for the few unlucky people who actually watched this film, he didn't.

This movie was a confusing and unexplained hodge podge with average at best special effects, poor acting by mostly no name actors, and a script that someone should have actually read prior to this disaster actually being made. Even though I had read the books I was still quite confused at times but was bored most of the time. This was one of those movies that after watching it you wonder if anyone actually screened it prior to releasing it in the theatres. The only explanation I could come up with is that Walden Media, who also released the Chronicles of Narnia, was trying to capitalize on that movie's success with this below average want to be epic. To make matters worse most of the characters were pretty annoying, especially Alexander Ludwig (Will Stanton), while others weren't developed at all. I was also very dissapointed with Ian McShane's performance who was excellent in his role as the saloon owner on HBO's series Deadwood and as the grieving father in the film "We are Marshall". McShane seemed bored in his role although not as bored as movie goers judging by the film's quick and quiet exit from the theatres. I wonder if anyone involved in the making of this film actually even read the books.

I sincerely hope that before Hollywood ruins any more classic fantasy novels that they take a look at how Peter Jackson developed the Lord of the Rings movies. Jackson stayed true to Tolkien's novels while still adding his own vision and interpretation of the material. While Jackson gave us one of the best movie trilogies of all time, Walden Media gave us The Seeker which should only be watched on cable, if its free, if nothing else is on, or if its winter time and you can't watch the grass grow.

Good Movie

This movie is based on the 1973 novel by Susan Cooper, which is the second book in the series The Dark Is Rising (The Dark Is Rising Sequence). Fans of the book should note that lots of changes have taken place in the transition to the movie, not all in a good way.
There are certain aspects of the movie that will remind you of the Harry Potter series, so you'll also need to remind yourself that Cooper went to press long before that other British lady.
You can't escape the fact that it is entertaining, well filmed and well acted, but compared to the book, it's lite. Watch this by all means, but make sure you read the book for the full story.

Square Peg into the Round Hole

If you read the book, skip the movie. If you did not read the book, still skip the movie. I saw this with a group in which some of us had read the book and some of us had not. Everybody disliked it.

The story was confusing, disjointed, and eventually pointless. Even if you had read the book, it appeared that the screenwriter was taking scenes from Harry Potter, scenes from the Fifth Element, and a few scenes from Cooper's original novels then patching them together. This led to an incoherent story line.

The biggest question is what were they thinking when they disregarded the story contained in the book? In an episode of "all things considered" on NPR, screenwriter John Hodge asserted that he was trying to distance this movie from Harry Potter. If so, he failed miserably because the massive changes made this look more like a bad Harry Potter knock-off than a separate film. From the NPR interviews, it appears that Ms. Cooper had little or no input in the film. I suspect that the filmmakers were trying to make a Harry Potter-like film out of Susan Cooper's story so they could avoid copyright infringement. Unfortunately, they were trying to fit a square peg into the round hole and it did not work.

The Seeker DVD, 2008

I wasn't sure about how I would like this film, so I actually waited awhile before I bought it. But it's actually very entertaining! What I like most is that it is a clean film. No swearing, sex or anything else taboo. It has a family theme, where the young Seeker does all he can to protect his family and in doing so, discovers a lost family secret, which only he alone can change. There's much suspense, and special effects. Music is pretty good. Younger children may be frightened by some images. Very original story. Worth watching.

The Seeker - Nonstop Thrills!

I loved the way Alexander Ludwig took on the role of Will Stanton. I think he did an amazing job. It's no wonder he's busy making movies! Chris Eccleston was the consummate choice for the Dark Rider! I felt the movie did a great job of bringing the book to life. I originally checked it out from my local library and liked it so much I bought the DVD to watch again and again!