AJ & Ebert

I hauled the Major and Princess HotMuffin to the movies on Saturday. Unfortunately for all of us, I took us to see The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising. Now, this should have been a totally awesome, crap your pants, squeal with delight movie. It's based on one of my all time favorite novels, The Dark Is Rising, by Susan Cooper. I read this book when I was around 10 and it's stayed with me throughout the years.

I went into the movie with an open mind. The idea was to accept the movie for what it was and not compare it to the book. Normally, this would be a good strategy, but they should have really put a disclaimer on the movie: This movie is VERY loosely based on Susan Cooper's novel, and by loosely we mean almost not at all.

About the only things that remain from Susan Cooper's wonderful book are character and place names, the search for the signs, and the general Light vs. Dark theme. This movie is so different from the book, it could be qualified as an entirely different story. Kind of like fanfic written by 12 year old with a penchant for fire and explosions. With that in mind, I have to say that the movie is your typical, Hollywood-style pablum for the masses. There are plot holes big enough for the old Star Jones to fit through. There is little to no explanation of why Will Stanton needs to search for the Signs -- or indeed what each Sign is. Will's supposedly got a bevy of powers at his command, but the only thing he really does with them is set stuff on fire -- torches, cars, trees. For some reason Will travels through time, and ends up in a 17th century cockfight, a Viking invasion, and a church infested with snakes (apparently, St. Patrick hadn't been there yet.) The dialogue is craptacular, character development is non-existent and I just don't buy Francis Conroy as an rapier-wielding ass-kicker. (Just where did she pull that epee from anyway?)

But my main problem with this movie is that the book provided such excellent source material there should have been no reason for it to turn out like Britney's new hit. I honestly get updating the story and adapting scenes so they work well on the screen. But if you're going to throw almost the entire original story out, why even bother making the movie? Bottom line: if you haven't read the book you'll probably enjoy this as a rental. If you have read the book, skip it or you'll rage and start blowing up cars just like Will in this movie.