DVD Review: The Seeker

Based on Susan Cooper’s Newberry Award winning The Dark Is Rising book series, The Seeker tells the story of? Will Stanton, an average 14-year-old kid whose world is turned upside down after he learns he is the last of a group of ancient warriors who have dedicated their entire lives fighting the forces of The Dark. Will quickly finds himself on the journey of a lifetime discovering hidden magical powers, traveling through time and uncovering clues that will eventually lead him to a battle with beings of unimaginable power; with the fate of the entire world in his young hands!

Review:
Fans of Susan Cooper’s famous book series (The Dark Is Rising (Box Set): The Dark Is Rising, Greenwitch, Over Sea, Under Stone, Silver on the Tree, The Grey King) might find this movie to be a bit insulting to the original books.

The movie revolves around Will Stanton, the seventh son of a seventh son. He has always felt like an outsider in his large family, and it doesn’t help that he’s now the new kid in town. As the plot slowly begins to evolve strange things start to happen. After events begin to unfold, Will learns that he is the “Seeker” and it’s his responsibility to find six signs in order to keep the Dark forces from taking over. If Will can’t find the signs within five days, then the Dark will rise, and they will have control over him.

The biggest issue I had with this film was that it was altered substantially to appeal to the “tween” market. If the film had stayed more true to the original story, I think this film would have been much more successful. Then again, there hasn’t really been many fantasy movies post Lord Of The Rings that have been good or that successful with the exception of Harry Potter and the mild debut of The Chronicles of Narnia in 2005.

Truth be told, if you haven’t read the book, you’ll probably find yourself rather entertained. Fans of the late Everwood will be delighted to see Gregory Smith again along side a cast of actors that all perform quite well. All in all, Seeker isn’t everything that the movie-goer hopes it will be. It’s certainly not a fantasy film that will stand the test of time, but it is a decent film that will surely entertain you for an evening.

Review by Emma Loggins

Grade: B-
Official site: http://www.seekthesigns.com/
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