The Dark Is Rising

I am quick to love movies, especially ones set in Britain. This one could not pull me in if it had a rope around my neck. The actors of this film do not deserve any ire. They did the best that they were told to do. Which involved over-emoting and false drama. For that the director deserves horrible ratings. The real villain of this movie is the writer. Now, I have not read the book, I pray that it is better than this waste of an hour and 39 minutes. Though if the screenplay is based on the book, it is probably 26 pages long. The dialog was uninviting, there was not a shred of suspense. Everything was stumbled upon or told immediately by another character. I give credit to the producer, the money spent on the actors was probably worth it I did think that there was a bit of integrity because of the actors (I was wrong). Though in the future they ought to spend more on rewrites. The screenplay writer needs to never work with the pen again. It would be better that way. Don't spend money on this. Take the time to find a place that is still showing Stardust, if it is 2 counties away, still worth more than subjecting your self to this terrible "coming of age" fiasco. I want my money back.

As a stand alone fantasy film for children, I'd give this one a 6. (Although I don't think I'd recommend it for children under 4th grade or so -- there were some quite frightening parts). I thought Christopher Eccelson did a good job as the Rider. The elements of good and evil were pretty well marked out to see. The action, if anything, went too fast. Will zipped from sign to sign without anyone really explaining to him why he was "The Seeker". The editing may have been too choppy. The Old Ones themselves weren't explained very well, which left me a bit confused. They show the dogs growling at Will and the television going fuzzy, but don't explain why. Even with the confusion and choppy editing, I think for kids who have never read the books, it could be a fun movie to see -- and possibly lead them into the books. THAT SAID..... I am a huge fan of the books and am personally disappointed in how much has been changed. I felt that Walden had a wonderful opportunity with this film to bring the richness of Cooper's books to life -- but all the timeless qualities of her book are gone in this very dated piece. The magic of the loving Stanton family, the small English village life, Arthurian Legend, and Celtic lore have been lost and in their place is a shopping mall a missing twin and a possessed brother. What happened to Herne the Hunter? The Old Ways? Huntercombe Way? The Farm? The Lady? The Walker? All in all I guess the best that can be said it that it could have been worse!!

I just watched this movie and I don't know where to start. This is just a very bad movie. This has nothing to do with the fact that the movie departed from the books; it's a very bad movie, period. I don't blame the actors; I think they did the best they could with what they had. I would sum up this movie as an awful lot (or a lot of awful) effects and camera stunts being used to hide the fact that there is no story. The camera switches from close-up to dangling high overhead repeatedly. It jumps around in battle scenes, apparently to make up for a lack of action. The special effects are cliché, more distracting than dramatic, and the battles turn into yet another CGI super-hero cartoon scene. But this is really just obscuring the fact that there is no story. The history is contrived; the family is pathetic; the Old Ones are rather useless; it's fortunate for Will that the enemy is inclined more to drama than to action. Once again we see the woman-as-temptress, tool-of-the-devil theme. The final battle is mostly against a lot of black dust. Will is driven by self-pity and only gets interested in the battle when he finds he has real power -- and then he becomes a rather self-righteous little jerk. None of these characters are likable or interesting (except possibly to 13-year-old boys). Which brings me to the review by the Truly Moving Pictures judge. I notice that the reviewer did not use a real name, and the website does not list judges (that I could find). The fact that this organization gave this film any kind of award can only indicate some kind of financial interest, since there is clearly no merit whatsoever evident in this film. I would agree that you can see the budget in the film, but I would add that you can also see that it was wasted. I was highly gratified that on opening weekend, there were perhaps twenty or thirty people in the entire theater. Hopefully there won't be any attempt at a sequel and perhaps someday someone will do justice to Susan Cooper's books.

I'm giving this a ten because it's for kids and my son really loved it! I rarely think a movie is better than a book, but I did read these books back in high school and found them to be boring. Thankfully the movie was way more entertaining. Yes, it will be compared to Harry Potter, but these books were written well before Harry was. I'm a huge Potter fan and have no problem recommending this film to anyone. My son and I both enjoyed it, but small children may be scared by the Evil Rider. If your looking for a fun fantasy film for the family this is it. Get some popcorn and have a great time, just don't try comparing it to other books or films, there is enough room in the world for more magical boys...jeez.