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The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising
Metascore
38 out of 100

Generally unfavorable - based on 21 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 21
  3. Negative: 6 out of 21
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  1. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Gianni Truzzi
    67
    The books' magic was rooted in its ties to Arthurian legend and British folklore, grandiose elements which Cunningham and Hodge have stripped.
  2. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Michael Sragow
    67
    The movie has a lot going for it, including wonderful sets and locations - in Bucharest, Romania! - that create a heightened-reality English hamlet with pub, church, manor and shops (make that shoppes!). And the lead actor, Ludwig, registers the growth spurts of the stripling hero with the sensitivity and precision of an emotional seismograph.
  3. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Kelley L. Carter
    63
    At its best, The Seeker is a pretty vivid fantasy book come-to-life; it does a decent, passable job of adding to the canon of kid-lit flicks.
  4. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Weitzman
    63
    This is a reasonable choice for bored tweens - as long as they don't demand too much magic from their movies.
  5. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Stephen Farber
    50
    The film plods along without a lot of excitement or inspiration.
  6. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Ruthe Stein
    50
    A mostly entertaining movie with built-in appeal to young audiences. The good news for parents is that it won't put them to sleep.
  7. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    50
    Though stylishly produced, this clumsy parable will probably engender more boredom than sequels.
  8. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    50
    Starts out with promise but staggers under the weight of trying to take on too much. The tone is murky: The story attempts to blend adolescent angst with fantasy adventure, and the result is rather clunky.
  9. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Liam Lacey
    50
    Whether you fully embrace the Harry Potter phenomenon or simply live with it, there's no question that J. K. Rowling is an imaginative story-spinner. The trouble is that she has ruined the field for the legions of the second-rate.
  10. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Jeannette Catsoulis
    50
    Feels passé and lacks a charismatic lead. Too bad Daniel Radcliffe is an only child.
  11. Variety
    Reviewed by: Dennis Harvey
    50
    Slick, good-looking, cluttered pic won't please fans of novelist Susan Cooper's original "The Dark Is Rising" sequence. But then, they are mostly grown-ups by now, and this very Hollywood-style adaptation of a very English book is aimed squarely at tweens.
  12. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Gregory Kirschling
    42
    A movie that should've been made shortly after its source material -- Susan Cooper's Newbery winner -- debuted in 1973. As is, it feels entirely too generic to work today.
  13. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Robert Wilonsky
    40
    From its less-than-special effects to its rushed ending, this whole endeavor is a lazy, wasted emasculation of a beloved series deserving of more thoughtful treatment. Guess they have four more books left to get it right. Oh, joy.
  14. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Crust
    40
    Dreary, spectacle-driven adaptation.
  15. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    40
    This movie is a particular disappointment. Although The Seeker is in Walden's tradition of positive storytelling, John Hodge's script is guilty of downright goofy utterances on occasion.
  16. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Kyle Smith
    38
    A kid unversed in other name-brand fantasy movies might go for The Seeker, but in 2007 it's redundant, a puttering Potter without wit and whimsy.
  17. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    38
    The producers - Fox Films and the usually reliable Walden Media - have tried to gin up the story for multiplex audiences. They've succeeded in making a movie for no audience at all.
  18. Premiere
    Reviewed by: Laura Repstad
    38
    This film should have soared, but doesn't quite get off the ground.
  19. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Tasha Robinson
    33
    Final score: Book 1, Movie 0.
  20. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: M. E. Russell
    25
    It's trying to fill some perceived market void created by the end of "Harry Potter."
  21. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marc Savlov
    0
    None of this made a lick of sense to me, nor did it appear to be all that obvious to either the cast or screenwriter Hodge, whose work here feels as though he'd given up in frustration halfway through before deciding to see how far he could push the vaguely Harry Potter-esque shenanigans before getting sacked.
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User Reviews

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User Score
2.3 out of 10

Generally unfavorable- based on 41 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 30
  3. Negative: 23 out of 30
  1. TBlack
    8
    In our theater, the audience began clapping as the ending credits rolled. I feel for those who have read the book, yet the pace, creativity, suspense targeted at tweens is more than adequate. Many creative shots packed great meaning into just a few seconds, telling the backstory as quickly as possible. What's wrong with a movie that clearly defines the light and dark in today's world and it's effects on ordinary living? No movie captures the written word, hence they are adapted. This movie deserves to be examined not to see how closely it follows the book, but by the quality of story-telling. I believe this story is worth watching, and it won't leave you bored no matter what others might say.… Full Review »
  2. JCAndrew
    10
    The Seeker: The Dark is Rising -- Cherishing -- First of all, lets find out about this film: Its title= Seeker, seeker means by example when a device in a missile that locates a target by sensing some characteristic of the target, as heat emission. Dark= well everyone knows what that means, rising= means to get up from a lying, sitting, or kneeling posture; assume an upright position. Now, if you combine those definitions, then see what happens. Seeker, dark, rising. Think about it, the seeker is obviously the child that seeks something. Maybe dark, or darkness, which is rising. At the eve of 11 years old, Will finds himself the last of the immortal's and uses the destiny of his kind to destroy the darkness that rises ahead which plans to banish Will from the human race. Now that is what I call a story. If you think like how I think before I saw it when you guessed it is worth a 6 then you are wrong, the story deserves so but there is never a dull moment, no kidding. A dark and fascinating film with visual effects beyond human use and reach, you would have to pay millions of dollars for those effects. It has loads of entertainment, it doesn't just have what the story gives you now. It passes by with way more plot's and stories happening. So please, if you think there isn't anything good playing right now because I also think the same, when this releases, go see it. It is worth it. Overall very good. But literally it has a lot of flaws, like the acting, dialogue, key concept, action. But I just say 10 when it deserves a 6 because I know there will not be many high rated reviews for the upcoming future, so just to balance the film's position.… Full Review »
  3. JoyceC.
    10
    The Seeker: The Dark is Rising is amazing, I was astonished at how the visual effects were attempted. The story is wonderful, acting isn';t the best. But the movie overall is good.… Full Review »
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