The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising Reviews

Eccleston shines as the bad guy. Decent visual effects but a choppy movie.

Cast: Ian McShane, Christopher Eccleston, Gregory Smith, Wendy Crewson, Jonathan Jackson, Amelia Warner, James Cosmo, Emma Lockhart, Frances Conroy, Drew Tyler Bell, Jim Piddock, John Benjamin Hickey, Alexander Ludwig

Director: David L. Cunningham

Summary: Just as he turns 14, young Will Stanton (Alexander Ludwig) learns that he's the last of a race of paladins known as "the Light" who are dedicated to beating back the forces of darkness and their malevolent leader, the Rider (Christopher Eccleston). As Will travels through time gathering the powerful artifacts that will give rise to the ultimate showdown, he must keep the Rider at bay.

My Thoughts: "Movies based on books should make you want to read the book/books if you haven't. Not the case with this movie. It just was not made very well and the directing was as poor as some of the acting. The acting felt very cheesy at moments. I think with better directing and some better acting the film could be much better."

Amateurishly directed, cheesy, repetitive and badly written. I just wish they would stop making these kind of derivative, uninspired fantasy flicks. Because it's at a point now where we get too much quantity and far too little quality.

it was okay. C

It was a decent movie 3 years ago! But now that I think about it, it is nothing short of a low budget kids film!

Wow, another fantasy film with the same idea as all the rest. This is so much a cross of 'Harry Potter' 'LOTR' 'Narnia' etc.. it looks like all the rest yet poorly and the characters are all the same. Chris Eccelston as the main baddie is terrible and not threatening atall and the rest are simply reruns of other film characters, we've seen this before and done much better. The plot is also very strange and unless you follow carefully you could lose it, much like 'Stardust'. There's just nothing new here, it was boring, hope there's no more.

Not a bad fantasy adventure of a seemingly typical teenager is a chosen warrior destined to restore the delicate earthly balance between Light and Dark. The special effects, casting and screenplay are awful.

I first thought this film would be terrible. As it went along it was a pleasant surprise. One scene in particular stood out. A Matrix-like interrogation that was wonderfully lit and edited creating a promise of creepier things to come. Unfortunately it settled into being a run of the mill fantasy adventure. Some chosen one must collect things to stop something bad from happening. Eccleston is forced and not intimidating in the slightest. The jumps to the past are quick, void of peril and shot in close ups to keep the low budget hidden. The majority of the performances are good enough,and the young lead does well to not irritate and seem like a normal teenage boy thrown into a very unreal situation. The family element is alsowellplayed out when it gets a chance to breath but ultimately this is more of an Eragon than a Harry potter.

This movie had potential but turned out not using it.

Positives: It had a possible good story that could of really been turned into something and will keep most people interested - if not liking the film, at least in actually watching it fully and giving it a real chance.

Negatives: The actors are unconvincing, especially the main boy! I know he is supposed to be recluctant of his new found persona as the seeker, but he is a little over board. Finding the signs is a great concept but he finds them in about 2-seconds, there is absoletly no great quest to get the signs, he just see's and grabs, and thats about it. Rarley is anyone in any danger.
Also you have to ask yourself what is the point in this kids powers? He gets upset that he cannot express himself so he blows stuff up with his eyes, but when I viking is about to chop his head off, he runs? It just does not add up. Let's think about this before you write people! You have the power of fire and you only use it outside of when you are in danger?

Overall:
For the most part this movie is a fun watch for one time through. It could of been a lot better with better casting and a actual detail to the story. I think that the movie is to short for it's own good. It seems as if they were trying to crowd a lot of movie into a little amount of time making the scenes forced, the movie cluttered, and the seeking of the signs seem as easy as collecting acorns. It's okay, it's not good, it's not great, but it is not awfully BAD either. I've seen worse.

i watched this at the cinema yesterday and really enjoyed it though the ending was a bit cheesy because wouldnt you be suspicious if you saw two of your brother so the end was its downfall but i thought it was really good and funny moments as well worth a watch

Director David L. Cunningham hacks and destroys in order the first of a series of books in the popular young series by Susan Cooper. The only provocating question that I have is why that took a great children's book and just ramsacked it to oblivion? No amount of CGI icing on this cake could save this disaster beside of a few stunning visuals that basically are the saving grace which falls completely flat. And what is even worst is that producers threw in bits and pieces of better fantasy films against the wall to see what would stick. And getting the main actor to play the heroic youth was the producers schemeing way to make a quick buck out of unknown actor into the next Daniel Radcliffe or for that manner the next Macauley Culkin. One of the worst children's films of the year and it shows.

Entertaining piece of fantasy family fluff. No swearing, not really violent and an interesting premise. Fans of the books however will not be amused.

a kiddie flick from england...don't ask any questions and just go along for the ride, keeping one eye closed, and you won't be too disappointed...!

Action, sci-fi, and fantasy. Everything a growing kid needs. Actually, maybe just a little bit more. That is exactly what this film could have used. A little bit more.The story is great and it does wonders for this film. It is real easy to pickup and follow. Unfortunately, where this film lacks is the details and explanations. Same problem as Eragon. There are many parts in this film that feel rushed. These are the places where more attention and focus would have added to the already great story. Another thing that sort of bothered me was some of the camera work. I am not a huge fan of the turning camera effects, although others may enjoy it. I would also liked to have seen more action. The battles between the "dark" and "light" are always short. Some suspenseful drawn out battles would be nice.This film may lack a detailed story, but the acting can make up for it. All the characters were pretty well played and I enjoyed Christopher Eccleston as the Rider.The CG comes in bunches and they aren't that bad either. The dark swirls controlled by the Rider was great to watch. I only wish that the main character, Will, used his powers more often. This would have allowed for more special effects.This is a great fantasy film that could have benefited from a more detailed story. This film only runs in at about 90 minutes, but could have done well if extended to the 2 hour mark.

For a kid's movie, it seems pretty decent, but it should DEFINITELY be PG-13. The imagery and frightening moments, in my opinion, are too graphic for younger audiences. The main actor seems to be overacting more often that I'd like, and I think the "pan and spin" camera style is good, but used entirely too often. It distracted the hound out of me. The plot was pretty straightforward, but often had a few plotholes. All in all, I would recommend this being a rental, don't waste your good money seeing it in theaters, it might give you a headache.

When those ultimate of fantasy book series, J.R.R. Tolkien?s The Lord of the Rings and J.K. Rowling?s Harry Potter, became unstoppable movie franchises, H'Wood execs rushed to find their next potential Hobbit or boy wizard. One of the franchises greenlit proved to be Susan Cooper?s The Dark is Rising Sequence. Comparing The Seeker with Tolkien or Rowling, though not apples and oranges, is an unfair evaluation?for the simple reason that no two billion dollar snowflakes are alike. Well-intentioned and mildly entertaining, The Seeker is slightly better than audiences would ever suspect?but lacks those unique X-factors which make sensational cinema.

In this PG-rated fantasy adaptation, a young man (Ludwig) discovers that he is the last of a group of immortals dedicated to fighting a dark unimaginable evil.

Despite his limited resume, director David L. Cunnigham makes the material seem more exciting than it actually is. With some inspired takes and choice cinematography, Cunningham keeps the simple story a-going. And by ?simple,? this reviewer means the following: The good guys use light as their weapon of choice and the bad guys come disguised as clouds of darkness?that?s that. The all-important issue of casting, however, creates a bit of a problem. Ludwig, though a fine young actor, proves less than compelling in the lead role. His All American-ness seems more appropriate for The Apple Dumpling Gang than as an immortal who saves the world. Moviegoers like their unlikely young heroes looking as everyman as Bilbo (Elijah Wood) or Harry (Daniel Radcliffe)?not Rolfe from The Sound of Music.

Bottom line: The Dark is Reeking.

All the ingredients are here for a fun fantasy adventure, but The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising doesn't even seem interested in itself. This movie has such a shocking lack of wonder and whimsy, two things all fantasy adventures must have. The incredible keeps on showing its face throughout the story, but the movie forgets to allow the characters to react or even respond to it. The storytelling employed here is of the most basic and episodic quality. Worst adaptation ever.

After seeing such great fantasy adaptations like Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and The Chronicles of Narnia, other fantasy novels were trying to be successful. Some of them grossed $100 million dollars at first, but only one of them flopped and is why we get 20th Century Fox and Walden Media's The Seeker: The Dark is Rising, based on a 5-book masterpiece by Susan Cooper.

It tells the story about Will Stanton, a 14-year old typical kid, who learns that he is the last of the Old Ones called the Light who spent many years trying to defend themselves from the Dark. The Rider appears and tries to destroy the Light and in order to defeat him, Will must find and guard the six signs of the Light and only them can they win the battle against the Dark.

Ok. Some of you already know what the story was about since it was done a lot of times and I have no time to waste, so time for my opinion.

Some of you won't believe this, but I've never read the book series to begin with, but with this being an adaptation, it's just sort of a bland movie. Not good, but not terrible. It's just a mediocre fantasy movie and here's the reason why.

1. Characterization: I'm not going to talk about characters like Will Stanton, Merriman, Mrs. Greythorne, The Rider, Maggie, and the rest of the characters. They did okay at their performances, but there were a lot of flaws in this movie and only one of them counts. In the book, Will Stanton was 11 years old and was kind of shy and a bit of a loner. In the movie, Will Stanton was changed from 11 year old british boy to a 14 year old american teenager and he is also shy, but kind of typical and expresses his feelings in the most irritating and emotional way. That's a nice way to change so much, 20th Century Fox. The rest of the characters were okay, but Maggie was changed from a maid to a love interest of Will, the black horse was changed into the white horse and that's all I'm going to say about the flaws.

2. The pacing: It is just plain awful. The first 20 minutes were okay since they tried to show some of Will and his family and the rest of the scenes turned out fine, but the rest of the storyline had to just rush towards the end. Of course, I'm not talking about the CGI in this movie. They were ok, but not given enough screen time. The dialogue doesn't quite cover it up due to its weak storytelling and shaky cameras.

and

3. The direction: It's just plain mediocre. Not horrible, but not that good either. Some of the sets were too cheesy and bland to begin with, but that's not worth saying much. It tried its best to bring the potential of the book, but fails miserably with oversued cliches and like I said, the rushed storyline. The only aspect that I liked about the direction was the action sequences. Even though they weren't included in the book, they seemed to be very interesting and very good, IMO.

The Seeker: The Dark is Rising isn't a horrible movie, but it doesn't even hold the candle to the book. It had decent characters and very good action scenes, but with a rushed storyline and overused cliches, it could have been better.

If kids like fantasy movies, then this is worth a DVD watch, but as for others, read the book.

5/10

** 1/2/*****

It's not too bad depending on the viewer of course. It has a fantasy-adventure plot and is basically good enough for light entertainment. Christopher Eccleston as the villain/rider is the highlight of the film and Alexander Ludwig does a good job as Will Stanton.
The movie focuses on the family of the "seeker" as well as focusing on his individual growth and discovery of himself and his battle to revive the hope and fight against the forces of the dark led by the Rider. Will becomes this embodiment of light, placed opposite the 'Rider', who was the embodiment of the dark.
This movie is based on a very famous children's novel by Susan Cooper. I have not read this book, but I have a nasty feeling that this adaptation is missing the magic and timeless quality we've come to expect from a fantasy movie.

Plays like a hodge-podge of every other fantasy tale ever told.