Seventh Son - Magic and Stuff

"Skal tidlig krøkast" is a saying in Norway. It means that you have to start early if you want to get good at something. This year's first cinema trip came already on the second day of the year, and it's even a proper 2015 release, a year can't start off much better than that. It had its premier in Norway today, and will premier in the USA on the 6th of February despite being an American film. It is "Seventh Son".

I didn't know anything about this film before hand except from what I had seen on the few posters hanging around the cinema. I knew Julianne Moore was in it, and that it was some sort of horrible fantasy adventure film, possibly based on a book. Turns out I was not wrong, except from it being horrible. I am not the biggest of fantasy fans to begin with. Other than the "Harry Potter" series I've tended to not be sold on the concept of the genre, especially the ones that are set on medieval worlds, like this one happens to be.

"Seventh Son" follows Tom, the seventh son of a seventh son. In this world the seventh son of a seventh son is supposed to be seven times as strong as an ordinary man, and they're hold in high regard by those who deal with creatures of the dark (ghasts, boggarts, witches, those kind of things). Tom is "bought" from his family by a "spook" called Master Gregory. Spooks are the guardians of humans against the supernatural. They catch or kill whatever might be threatening the nearest village. Gregory has just lost his last apprentice to the queen of the witches, and Tom is to take his place. Together they journey to kill the queen, to stop a reign of terror across the world.

The plot is very straight forward, it's the same as any hero's journey. A hero, a mentor, a love interest, a villain, some wonky family connections, troubled pasts. For a while I was almost convinced that I was watching a remake of "Star Wars" without the stars. Alas it isn't as good as that. What makes this film not horrible, but instead rather good, are the characters and how the action is handled. All the character aren't good, in fact now that you're pressing me, the main character and his love interest are two of the worst, but the supporting cast is extremely fun. Jeff Bridges kills as Master Gregory, he's a perfect analogue to Obi Wan for this film. He's funny, he's clever, he's badass, and he doesn't mess around. Likeways the main villain, the witch queen played by Julianne Moore, is good. Not as good as Gregory, but good. She's good at keeping many things from the people around her, she doesn't mess around. When she wants something done, she gets it done.

Overall this film won't be on anyone's list of anything this year unless Jeff Bridges suddenly dies and this turns out to be one of his last films, knock on wood, but it's fun. You might not want to waste cinema ticket money on it, but definitely check it out when it hit Netflix later this year. I'd be surprised if it isn't there by September.