The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising (2007)

When I first heard The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising, I was very excited. After all, the Dark Is Rising series by Susan Cooper were some of my favorite books growing up. With their storyline of magic and an epic good vs. evil struggle, they were enthralling. Those stories have remained favorites of mine to this day.

So, when The Seeker was announced, I was looking forward to seeing the series make it’s way to the big screen…and then I saw a preview. Warning bells rang in my head as I saw the young (now American) Will Stanton hop around in what seemed to be a very dumbed-down kid-friendly version of the book I remembered.

Instead of risking being incredibly disappointed in theaters, I ended up just re-reading the series in the comfort of my home. As the film made it’s run in theaters and began making it’s way to DVD, I reconsidered checking it out. After all, maybe the previews were geared for younger kids, but they couldn’t really dumb down such a great story that much…could they?

Alexander Ludwig, while not a wholly bad actor, was the wrong choice for playing lead Will Stanton. Apart from not being British, Alexander doesn’t portray any of the wisdom Will Stanton revealed in the books once he realized he was one of the Old Ones. Instead, Alexander cavorts through the film like the whole life-and-death struggle is nothing more than some fun game.

While Christopher Eccleston wasn’t half bad as the Dark Rider, Ian McShane’s Merriman suffers from a bit of the same fate as Alexander Ludwig’s Will. In the book, Merriman is the wise and knowing elder who becomes something of a father figure to Will. In the film, he spends most of his time groaning at Will’s actions, rather than really teaching anything (and isn’t Merriman older in the book, or is that just me?)

That’s not to say the casting is totally to blame. Aside from the obvious differences in Will Stanton (um - he’s supposed to be English, not an American), the film veers way off from the book in far more maor ways as well. Besides dumbing down the film to make it accessible to 10 year olds, the filmmakers also decided to change pretty much everything that made the book great.

Gone is Will’s first long trek through the snow that early morning, where he discovers he has been transported back in time to meet the others as an Old One for the first time. Gone is the Walker, who has one of the signs. Gone is the stag’s head he presents to the Hunter (gone too is the Hunter himself). Gone is the betrayal by one of the Old Ones’ most trusted assistants (and the grandfather clock that helped hasten that betrayal).

Instead, the filmmakers tossed in ridiculously see-through items like a mysterious girl who suddenly shows up in Will’s life; a betrayal by Will’s brother (thus removing any sense of family togetherness); Will using his powers on his family (again, no sense of a family bond), and some stupid dialogue like “can I fly?”

It’s no wonder The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising arrived on DVD recently with little fanfare. Fans of the books will be horrified by the film, while those who have never read the books will never want to after sitting through this.

If another book in the series is made into a film (which seems unlikely at this point), they should try to keep at least the essence of the book. It’s not a story for 10 year olds. Keep the darkness that imbues the novels, and bring out the many layers (including the various mythologies the novels borrowed from) that have kept the stories popular for so long. Do all that, and the next film might actually be worth seeing.

My advice, fellow movie-goers: stay away from The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising and read (or re-read) the novels by Susan Cooper instead.