Movie Review: The Seeker The Dark is Rising

The Seeker: The Dark is Rising (2007) 

Directed by David L Cunningham 

Written by John Hodge 

Starring Alexander Ludwig, Christopher Eccleston, Ian McShane, Frances Conroy 

Release Date October 5th, 2007

Published October 4th, 2007

Why are so many fantasy adventure heroes so whiny and ineffectual? Shoved along by the forces of good and basically forced to be heroes? Take, for instance, Will Stanton, the hero of The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising. Will is among the whiniest and most winsome heroes in film history. Constantly slowing the action to complain that his mission is too hard and that he's too young, Will makes The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising a slog to sit through.

Will Stanton (Alexander Ludwig) did not know, until his fourteenth birthday, that he is a member of a secret society. Will is secretly a member of The Light, a force that protects humanity from the forces of The Dark, led by The Rider (Christopher Eccleston). Not long after Will's birthday, The Rider is set to regain the strength that he has been denied for centuries but before he can do that, The Rider needs the trinkets gathered by The Seeker, to gain his full strength. You can probably guess who The Seeker turns out to be. 

Yes. Will just happens to be the seeker, or so he's told by Merriman (Ian McShane), the cryptic spokesman for the good guys, which also includes Miss Graythorne (Frances Conroy), Dawson (James Cosmo), and Old George (Jim Piddock). Merriman explains to Will that he can travel through time, summon great strength, and control fire as The Seeker. And still Will whines that the task will be too much for him. Nevertheless, it's up to Will to get the six elements that can restore the power of The Light or if the fall into the hands of the rider, bring about the rise of The Dark and the end of the world.

Directed by David L. Cunningham, and based on the popular novels of Susan Cooper, The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising is one of the lamest adventures in a good long while. I can't compare what is on the screen to what came from Susan Cooper's page except that Cooper's books are over 30 years old and the film has been modernized. Also, The Dark is Rising is the second in the 6 book series of The Seeker and thus truncates each of the first two books into this one 94 minute movie.

You can see and feel where corners were cut, even if you haven't read the books, because the plot of The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising is so full holes. The nonsense with The Rider, the characters who work for The Rider, and the motivations of the evil known as The Dark are murky and goofball. Just the fact that the evil of the film is just referred to as The Dark shows how little creative thought went into the evil side of the movie.

Not that the good is all that well defined. Calling the forces of good 'The Light' is certainly no more interesting than 'The Dark'. On the bright side, The Light is represented by Ian McShane and Frances Conroy to terrific character actors who need to take more care in choosing their roles. Both of these brilliant, dignified actors give their all to their work, sadly they are defeated by the poorly crafted script and by Alexander Ludwig's deeply awful performance. 

Whiny, ineffectual and shoved along by the plot, Ludwig's Will Stanton would let the world come to an end if he had his way. Were it not for the forces of The Light forcing him to be a hero, Will would simply accept the sweet embrace of death rather than have to learn, grow, and fight with honor for a cause he believes in. There is certainly nothing wrong with a reluctant hero, that's a fine source of dramatic conflict, but the makers of The Seeker: The Dark is Rising have the character Will Stanton do little more than whine and complain about his reluctance to be a hero. 

The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising fails on a number of levels but most damningly in the creation of its hero. I don't want to be too hard on young Alexander Ludwig, or harder than I already have been, but his Will Stanton is arguably the whiniest hero of all time. Constantly bleating about how it's too hard or he's too young or he can't even find the courage to talk to a girl, Will whines throughout the film and grows into one of the most annoying 'heroes' in the history of fantasy adventure.