5 second review: Another horrible Hollywood movie adaptation of a beloved children’s story.
The Longer Review: I’ve put off watching this movie for a while since I wanted to read all five books in the “Dark Sequence” before I see the movie. The Dark is Rising is actually the second book in the series which follows the “awakening” of Will Stanton, when he finds out he is more than just a normal boy. The novel is set in England, with the Stanton’s – an english family who have been in the country for generations. The main plot of the story is the battle between light and dark – with the light being championed by the “Old Ones” and the dark being championed by “The Rider”.
The movie decided to keep the English setting, but decided to make the Stanton family American. Americans who happened to move to England due to the work of the “Old Ones”.
That was just one of the many things that annoyed me about the movie. I found that both sides of the struggle were whiny and I didn’t feel like cheering for either of them. As well the character development was very weak – characters who play a strong presence in the book ended up being whiny, insignificant background noise.
Plus they added a kidnapped twin brother to the story. An amazingly Hollywood formulaic cliche. The twin brother who had nothing to do with the story (and was dead in the book) with which the hero can have a joyful reunion with at the end.
In conclusion I give this movie 1 star our of 5. It had it’s moments (like when Christopher Eccleston who plays The Rider was disguising himself as a doctor – since he was The Doctor in Doctor Who) but it fell short of the books. Don’t get me wrong – the books weren’t fantastic either – to be honest there were sections that were pretty boring, but they were much better than the movie. Don’t waste your time with this one.
4 Comments
Ah yes… never ever ever judge a book by the movie. Still? I always get so curious about how things would be visually portrayed that I have to see it once I have read the book. And sadly? I usually come away disappointed… ho hum.
-H
I’m actually find that you’re more likely to enjoy the movie if you watch it first and then read the book. I’m sure I would have liked Stardust a lot more if I hadn’t read the book first since I was constantly comparing the movie to the book.
I should probably write this down, right? For reference when renting our Monday movies. 🙂
I gave it 1 star out of 7. I win……..again…….
(cue the Sloan music)