The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising (2007) starring Alexander Ludwig, Christopher Eccleston, Ian McShane, Frances Conroy directed by David L. Cunningham Movie Review

The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising (2007)   2/52/52/52/52/5


Alexander Ludwig in The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising (2007)

Finding No Answers

When Will Stanton (Alexander Ludwig) turns 14 he gets a lot more than he bargained for as he discovers that he is a rather important person, the last in a group of warriors who are dedicated to fighting the dark forces of evil and protecting the light. Not overly happy to have this lumbered on him Will learns that with being a warrior comes great power including the ability to bend time as he goes searching for clues in order to stop the dark from rising.

Who are all these kids who seem to be from the same family but with a variety of accents who head to a British village by school bus which from a distance looks more like it is in Austria? Those are just some of the multitude of questions which I had after just the first 15 minutes of watching "The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising" and I came to two conclusions within those first 15 minutes. Firstly this was another moving vying to be the next "Harry Potter" and you will have needed to read Susan Cooper's novel to follow what is happening as unlike in the "Harry Potter" it doesnÂ’t do a great job of explaining things for those in the dark.

Gregory Smith in The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising (2007)

Now that is a big issue because every time we are presented with something with no explanation it causes those like me with no knowledge of the story not to be more intrigued but become more distant. But also when ever we enter a room for some reason director David L. Cunningham seems to mimic the "Harry Potter" movies and expects the audience to be engaged and amazed by all the detail, from an old gramophone to a table laden with sweet delights. Maybe that is how the book was written, with this level of detail but unfortunately due to how impressive the "Harry Potter" franchise has been "The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising" just ends up coming across as wanting to be similar.

As for the acting well Alexander Ludwig is solid enough but he is ordinary or at least the character of Will is ordinary and at times a little bit annoying. Fortunately there are plenty of familiar faces in "The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising" from James Cosmo to Ian McShane as well as Christopher Eccleston who once again shows up in bad guy mode which means slightly over the top which I guess is acceptable for this sort of movie.

What this all boils down to is that "The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising" might appeal to those who have read the book on which it is based but for those who haven't it leaves you feeling like you are outsider looking in. But it is also a movie which joins the group of movies aiming to be the next "Harry Potter" only to end up a weak imitation.


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