Review Roundup: Epic Thriller THE SEVENTH SON Opens Today

Epic fantasy-thriller THE SEVENTH SON hits theaters nationwide today! The film is based on Joseph Delaney's novel THE SPOOK'S APPRENTICE, the first book in the Wardstone Chronicles series.

The story follows Thomas Ward, a young man who is the seventh son of a seventh son, thus qualifying him to become the Spook's apprentice. The Spook (also called Master Gregory) is gearing up to battle the malicious Mother Malkin, who desires to bestow her wrath on all humanity after being imprisoned for many years. The Spook must teach Thomas how to fight against dark magic and save the planet before it's too late.

THE SEVENTH SON stars Ben Barnes, Julianne Moore, Jeff Bridges, and Alicia Vikander.

Let's see what the critics had to say!

Associated Press, The New York Times: Nearly every piece of dialogue sounds like a parody of the genre and the attempt to alternate between humor and action falls flat on all fronts. As painstakingly designed and choreographed as the fight sequences are, they just never manage to excite or thrill and the actors couldn't seem more disconnected from one another.

Peter Debruge, Variety: Given the fine past work of its many parents, there was clearly potential here, but as delivered, "Seventh Son" amounts to nothing short of a creative miscarriage.

Kyle Smith, New York Post: "Seventh Son" is not a good movie, but it's also not a pretentious one, and I call that a fair trade. I was disappointed that there were no fire-breathing mummy ninjas from space, but you have to save something for the sequel.

Kyle Anderson, Entertainment Weekly: Once the plot dominoes are arranged in an overlong series of setups, Seventh Son ends up being a movie about walking, interrupted occasionally by a battle against a mythological monster.

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Seventh Son is thoroughly ill-conceived, a pale imitation of its more adventurous and breathtaking brethren.

Jordan Hoffman, The Guardian: There are flashes where you think Seventh Son is going to be wise enough to put a spin on the standard script, but by the end it just devolves into another loud, messy CGI brawl.

Scott Mendelson, Forbes: It is not remotely boring, and it features two hilariously over-the-top performances from two highly respected actors. It is likely to be one of the worst films of the year, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy myself.

Adam Dileo, IGN: The story, such as it is, amounts to little more than the stretched out third act of what might have been an epic journey, but instead feels like a hurried, haphazard succession of battle sequences in ever more cinematic locales.

Jordan Mintzer, Hollywood Reporter: If anything, the movie offers up the guilty pleasure of seeing Bridges and Moore duel it out in front of countless green screens and a few stunning Canadian backdrops - two great actors clawing at each other with magic staffs and fake fire, trying to survive in the netherworld of heroic kitsch.

Elise Nakhnikian, Slant Magazine: Time-lapse photography, a bombastic soundtrack, and a swirling 3D camera partial to taking aerial shots of mountaintops and whooshing down into underground prisons are just some of the tools Seventh Son employs to grab audiences-and that's just in the first one or two minutes.

Photo Credit: Official Site

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