Rated: PG
Starring: Emma Lockhart, Alexander Ludwig, Ian McShane, Gregory Smith, Austin Vaccaro, Christopher Eccleston
Directed by: David L. Cunningham

• Official Site

I had the pleasure of attending a special screening for this film, hosted by stars Gary and Edmund Entin (Paul and Robin Stanton) yesterday. Admittedly, I had my reservations when I went to view this film after reading all of the comments and reviews online beforehand. Happily, the movie wasn't as bad as everyone claimed it to be.

I never actually read the books to this series, The Dark is Rising, written by Susan Cooper, so I have no way to compare - and it is probably better that I don't.

The Dark is Rising is a story about Will Stanton (Ludwig), who learns just before his 14th birthday, that he is actually the last of the "Old Ones", a group of immortal warriors and guardians dedicated to fighting the forces of the Dark with the Light.

The Dark (Eccleston), personified both as town doctor and dark horseman, is bringing forth his last great rising to defeat the Light and throw the world into a never-ending storm of darkness.

Will, having been born with a great gift of power, is expected to find six signs that will defeat this Dark from rising and taking over. Will is the Seeker.

Will does his best to search for these six signs - after he first rebels against his duties - winding his way through time to find them. Yes - he travels through time each time he senses a sign.

Will discovers many friends and enemies along the way during his "quest", hones his powers (kind of) and learns a few disturbing things about his own family - and a few good things. In this film, people aren't always what they seem - and neither are things.

The Dark is Rising had great potential.

Eccleston (Dr. Who) does a good portrayal of the "Dark" - how appropriate he play a doctor in a time-traveling flick...where is his Tardis now, eh? The younger actors - Ludwig, Smith, Lockhart, Entin, etc. - they all gave respectable performances. The acting wasn't the problem here, nor the effects as they were quite fine as well.

The main problem with this production, aside from the bits that drag on just a little too long, is the dialog and story development. Some things went too fast when they needed more explanation, other things were ironed out way too long when they should have been moved on a bit faster. The dialog was stale, repetitive and unoriginal.

Unfortunately, it is the script writer and the director that ultimately hold power over the end result of a film. For whatever reason, they didn't get it together. I was confused in certain parts of the film and needed to read comments from other people who had read the books to figure out what was really going on after the film was over and I'd settled back in front of my laptop once again. Something one should not have to do if the script is written properly, and the story directed appropriately.

It isn't all bad though, don't get me wrong. I didn't hate the movie. The visuals were nice, the acting was solid - there were definitely some scenes sprinkled throughout that were enjoyable and jumpy. It wasn't boring by any means. There were younger children in the audience the night I went and they seemed to like the movie just fine. Seems to be a hit amongst the youngsters.

I'd recommend this film to anyone 11 or younger. When you get to 12 and above, that is when the brain starts putting things together and says "what"?

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No. 1 :

i have watched the movie and it was one of the greatest movie.

Submitted by mortada mohsion • 2007-10-08 14:02:49

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