Seventh Son - How to Build a Cinematic Nightmare | Anatomy of a Failure

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Seventh Son is a 2014 wannabe fantasy blockbuster uniting elements from fantasy material like Lord of the Rings, The Witcher and Dungeons and Dragons. And it's one of the most nonsensical and confusing movies you'll see, thanks to which it become a box office flop and lost a bunch of money. The fantasy elements are handled in a way that feels like a fever dream -- things just happen with no logic. And since that new fantasy movie, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is coming out, let's see what exactly made Seventh Son fail in the same category.
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Seventh Son (2014)
A powerful knight trains his young apprentice to do battle against a diabolical witch who is gathering an army to wage supernatural war on all of mankind in this adaptation of author Joseph Delaney's young-adult novel The Spook's Apprentice. Years ago, brave Master Gregory (Jeff Bridges) succeeded in capturing evil enchantress Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore), and locking her away to rot in prison. Now Mother Malkin has escaped, and she's hungry for revenge. As her followers gather power, the dreaded witch reveals her seventh son bad fantasy movies everything wrong with seventh son honest trailer worst fantasy movies RIPD the worst blockbuster you've never heard of infernal intentions to the noble knight who once imprisoned her, and who dungeans and dragons movie new trailer official fantasy movies now has until the next full moon to train Tom Ward (Ben Barnes), the seventh son of a seventh son, to defend humanity against a threat whose evil knows no bounds.
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Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
A charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers undertake an epic heist to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves brings the rich world and playful spirit of the legendary roleplaying game to the big screen in a hilarious and action-packed adventure.

[@Filmento]

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[@oksanapashenko]

Speaking about Puss In Boots 2, can you make a Kung Fu Panda 2 essay?

[@marialopez-ql9ec]

Pleas do Scream 6 next, pleeeeeeas! ❤

[@wallywest8223]

How would you compare this to season of the witch?

[@swiatowidciesslak6249]

A question about book: would it be translate to polish?

[@danialtarki572]

Over The Hedge review.

[@matodragonespor5000]

I remember I read an interview were they asked the writer of the books what he thought about the movie and he just said something like: "I don't know. I think I went to the wrong theatre because the movie I saw had literally nothing to do with my books"

[@frogosplayer1]

That's pretty sad /: poor guy got insulted by Hollywood

[@majpeaches]

It’s a shame, they basically did the same to another of his books, Ender’s Game

[@Nejvyn]

​@@majpeaches Ender's game is from Orson Scott Card tho, not from Joseph Delaney?

[@alsmith9853]

Hope he got well paid

[@jeremybrown9611]

This is how I feel when I watch the MCU

[@gamerstheater1187]

I like how a bunch of witches who spent their lives hiding and fighting humans die to simple things like a pitchfork

[@jordinagel1184]

Hey man, if stories like The Witcher have taught us anything, it’s that even superhuman killing machines can be downed by a lad with a pitchfork

[@gamerstheater1187]

@@jordinagel1184 Well, Geralt was still somewhat human and the reason he got stabbed was cause he chose to spare that guy

[@artificialintelligence9378]

​@@jordinagel1184 Did you just compare the Witcher to this abomination? Sure, it's "fantasy" genre but seriously??

[@qinlongfei]

Guess that's why they hide from humans in the first place. Turns out even a simple pitchfork is their kryptonite.

[@gamerstheater1187]

@@artificialintelligence9378 well in all fairness Geralt does “die” in the books no one really knows

[@gpdragonfire1652]

To answer your questions about the boy being a seventh son - In certain folklores, the seventh son of a seventh son is inherently magical/a wizard

[@annana6098]

It's reasonably well known to fans of fantasy. The superstitions around the number seven being a lucky or holy number are even better known. They really should have dedicated at least one line of dialogue to establishing it for general audiences.

[@emarusso5758]

@@annana6098 I watched the movie in theatre and I remember that it was explained. It was even in the trailer.

[@christianyobel117]

wouldn't that means there's gonna be thousands of magical men tho? what makes the main character special?

[@CabezasDePescado]

And in others is a curse

[@dark3rthanshadows]

yeah but in the movie...

[@francissimmons8686]

I remember watching this when I was younger and being really fascinated by the world that the movie takes place in and found the whole seventh son of the seventh son concept unique and wanted to know more but was at first confused thinking I was reading the wrong books then amazed by how cool this world was and how deep it goes then just felt bad that the movie didn't do it any justice

[@TheSuperappelflap]

The 7th son thing is actually a trope in medieval european stories, it was a common practice for families to send their 7th sons to monasteries to become monks or priests, hence their association with the occult and arcane.

[@olivergiggins7931]

The book this was based on was fantastic. A children's horror story that was actually scary, set in a past, rural England where all superstitions were real and killed people. The film took about four ideas from that and made it into bad American action shlock.

[@Destroyer120296]

I remember the books quite fondly and still think they hold up/ are entertaining for even an adult. I like the characters and think it does a good job of describing a medival ish world and bring folklore to life while also having each book have its own story that contributes to a larger narrative that develops overtime.

[@britsticher8889]

Exactly the book had a sense of place with Pendal Hill in the first book and and all the historical superstitions. It was part of what made it different from a generic fantasy story.

[@ChildrenOfRadiation]

Ah, an American adaptation of British material? Never goes awry, innit.

[@dannydevito4184]

​@@ChildrenOfRadiation The James Bond films are and have always been American productions and because of how popular and well-loved those movies are, James Bond has become an icon and a symbol of British culture. So we do have the Yanks to thank for that.

[@Nejvyn]

Just imagine Julianne Moore's bloated drowned corpse creeping around, possessing people to kill children ... that would have been so cool 😂 But I guess you can't really make a big kids movie with that amount of creepy stuff in it today :/

[@REELWORKS12923]

That opening clip sums up everything you need to know about this movie

[@chasehedges6775]

Movie looks pretty mediocre and average

[@cpenner7086]

Hey that cgi was really good...if done by amateurs. Lol

[@oldbuddyolpal9859]

The fact that I never ever heard of this movie tells me everything i need to know lol

[@cpenner7086]

@@oldbuddyolpal9859 hey there are some really good movies that didn't do so well! So people don't know about them.

[@Sonmmmxuan]

It's giving "the earth benders clan from the last airbender doing a whole routine just to throw a medium rock to the enemy" energy

[@RedPhnX]

The description of this movie being a nightmare child of Sorcerer’s Apprentice, The Witcher, and D&D was so perfectly accurate. I was always aware of “The Seventh Son” as the title of a movie I had seen and that one of the lines of dialogue was “You’re the seventh son of a seventh son”, but I could never remember anything else beyond thinking that line had come from Sorcerer’s Apprentice and maybe it had gone through an Edge of Tomorrow type title change

[@saulgallagher5668]

When the best line in the movie is "oh monsters have nightmares about humans" or something like "humans are the real monsters" That's when you know this was made during the writers strike

[@zionleach3001]

Really? I've always found that annoying. No nuance just no matter how many people the monster kills. It's humans who are inherently evil. 😑 But apparently it's wrong to have certain fictional species be evil by default.

[@TheoEvian]

@@zionleach3001 It's the fault of Witcher to be frank. Like a lot of the monsters there aren't evil, people just don't give a shit about nature and thus the monsters attack them due to habitat destruction. Which makes the position of the Witchers even more interesting of course. And DnD of course, because you need mooks to kill but they wave it away with evil gods creating these species etc. Many other properties don't give it even that level of care tho.

[@zionleach3001]

@@TheoEvian I haven't read the books. But I know the world the Witcher is so awful that Ciri left after Geralt died.

[@TheoEvian]

@@zionleach3001 World of Witcher is basically the fantasy version of the (post)communist central europe. It is full of very ignorant and selfish people. From Sapkowsky's other works I can strongly recomend his Husite (Narenturm) trilogy which is a fantasy retelling of the history of 15th century Bohemia (and Silesia in the first book, I guess) which is the place where I come from (but since it was not written by a Czech it steers away from most of the Czech national myths connected to that era).

[@aleccope1320]

From 2014

[@dontaejones7419]

YES! TEAR THIS MOVIE TO SHREDS! I WAITED FOR THIS ADAPTATION FOR ALOMOST MY ENTIRE CHILDHOOD AND THEY FUCKED IT UP.

[@nobody32770]

this movie is a travesty for the entire wardstone chronicles.

[@brahimdiop5506]

When I watched this movie in theaters as a kid, I desperately wanted to throw salt and iron fleks at the screen

[@t.c.s.7724]

Story and script is the foundation of all films. You cannot transcend a bad screenplay.

[@floydffrogfloydffrog7453]

"You cannot transcend a bad screenplay." I beg to differ (pulls MacGuffin out of backpack)

[@lvo9197]

There are a few exceptions. Antonioni s films are a case of that. For the most parts, all of his movies are an excuse to shooto gorgeous sequences while there is kind of a story inthe background (it s more like going to a painting exhibition in film format than a story)

[@bocahdongo7769]

@@lvo9197 exception aren't the norm. You need to spend time and energy to make it looks bad but actually came together. Which is counterproductive with what the rest of bad movie is.

[@smaller_cathedrals]

What a baseless overgeneralization.

[@lvo9197]

@@bocahdongo7769 I never said it was the norm. I just said it is possible. We are more used to story centric films, but you could make a type of films that diverts from these format.

[@thedragonknight3600]

As someone who read the books, this movie was like Narrative BMX. They went as fast and hard as possible without giving two shits about what the original story was actually about. The shot about MC’s mom being a demon happened in BOOK SIX.

[@thedragonknight3600]

@xana7617 it's called The Last Apprentice. The first book is called the Revenge of the Witch, I think

[@thedragonknight3600]

@xana7617 yeah it’s great. It’s a lot less action and a lot more lite horror. Blood, death, some graphic content but not too graphic. Hope you like it though.

[@Tarodan]

@xana7617 I dunno if you've gotten to it yet, but it's by the same author as Ender's Game, if that changes your motivation levels.

[@thedragonknight3600]

@xana7617 damn I never thought I’d hear back. Glad I was able to give you a good recommendation

[@RabenmundK]

​@@TarodanIt isnt. This seventh son about Tom Ward was written by delaney. The book your thinking of is from the author of Enders Game, but tells a different story.

[@precapvids5385]

I remember watching the movie and can't recall anything really. It was so weird, like watching something just happen, not with purpose or motivation, but it just happened. One of the strangest things i ever watched.

[@anadominguez7712]

I will never get tired of Filmento's memey editing, it makes the video hilarious and captivating without being cringe

[@g.d.graham2446]

Absolutely

[@JoshuaC923]

Yes😂

[@roberthui9714]

1:07 is probably the funniest part.

[@sleepless9957]

I remember the books, they were so awesome. Shame they ruined it like this onscreen

[@panternwolf5028]

I wasnt a fan of the character development of Alice thought, especially in the later books. I guess I am a sucker of happy endings ;P

[@nobody32770]

@@panternwolf5028 Alice went from my top favorite characters to the most hated ones.

[@alispeed5095]

@@panternwolf5028 What went wrong? l recall them gettin together in the end with Tom. Or maybe am misremembering? All l recall is l had to drop the series when they changed perspective to the new kid.

[@panternwolf5028]

​@@alispeed5095 ​ @ali speed She flip flopped more than Sam Bakman-Fried, going from good to bad sometimes with questionable reasoning och if I remember she went away with her the supervillan (and new love interest?) at the end and I don't remember if the series continued from there. The Spook got a bad death as well that I did not like. The expectation of the apprentice and her getting to gather was broking so many times you would think it was a game of thrones character with the amount of Brutus vs Ceasar moments. And some might argue that breaking expectations are a good thing I don't think it translated well in this case. She was suppose to be a good character that walks a thin line of morality when fighting evil. Instead she was sometimes evil overall, sometimes good overall, always in love with the main character until she (for some reason) got together with the evil dude. And this despite her having a baby (if I remember) with our protagonist.

[@panternwolf5028]

@@alispeed5095 basically, they got together like you remember, I just wish it stayed like that instead of constantly creating drama by making her a bad person.

[@richardmh1987]

You´re right about this movie being like a nightmare you forget as soon as you wake up. I went to the movies to watch it and remember Jeff Bridges fighting in a bar with Jon Snow by his side but only that, I don´t even remember the ending.

[@shadowvampwolf]

if no one has mentioned it yet this movie is actually a book adaptation, that took a lot of artistic liberty and tried to cram a lot of lore into one movie. i love the wardstone chronicals and was really ashamed this didn't go well. reminds me of what happened to Eragon

[@thomasfplm]

I'd say you take a lot of liberty in using the word "artistic" here.

[@crablord7934]

The original book series was way smaller scale with way more character focused moments, the movie just turned it into something completely different with the "bigger is better" mindset.

[@boboboy8189]

sound like typical american to me

[@marley7868]

@@boboboy8189 pft someone needs to spent time offline if your incapable of making potshots at other countries when it's obvious the film industry has this issue or do you think bollywood would have tried to tone it down?

[@codycomer4623]

You could tell from the earliest trailers that whoever was making this didn’t care about or understand why people enjoyed the source material. The books, especially the early ones, were so intensely focused. They were small scale and had highly personal stakes and that made them so incredibly tense. Also the apprentice was afraid and new and him overcoming these things were a massive plot point that’s lost by the movieaking him a superhuman. Additionally the books did such a great job of setting up the world and explaining what was going on while also creating mysteries that drew you in without making you feel lost. Overall they took a tension filled, tightly focused, and very personal horror story and turned it into a sprawling generic dime a dozen action brawler. It has nothing but the occasional terminology in common with the books. Then they wonder why the audience didn’t show.

[@bagusamartya5325]

A lot of times in Hollywood, the "adaptation" is no real adaptation. The writers just happen to have whatever cheap screenplay they have, alters the name slightly to fit the book, and film the movie claiming it's an adaptation. Studios invest quite some resources on these screenplays so they always try to find an excuse to spew them out for the public, regardless of their actual quality

[@codycomer4623]

@@bagusamartya5325 that would definitely explain what happened to this movie.

[@mariecarie1]

Dang, that sounds awesome. I wanna read the books now!

[@codycomer4623]

@@mariecarie1 do it! they’re solid. No spoilers, but there’s parts of those books I’m still not over lol

[@mariecarie1]

@@codycomer4623 Fantasy horror is the best horror. It’s psychological AND physical. It’s excellent. Can’t wait!!

[@nivannakingsman1383]

You describing this movie like a dream is perfect. I literally had like suppressed memories of this movie. Also, didn't expect filmento to inform me about displate having Shrek stuff

[@MavenCree]

The 7th Son of a 7th Son is a mythological concept. This son is supposed to have power or special sight or something. He has different abilities depending on the culture.

[@MasterChakra7]

Filmento never disappoints with the analysis, I legitimately hope we see more of it for decades to come

[@Giovanni_Lippert]

Not enough bro. We have to upload his consciousness into a robot so he can keep making videos

[@GlacialRaven]

Man, I remember being so excited for this movie, the spooks books were my favorite when I was at school. And then I watched it, my excitement was completely destroyed within like 5 minutes. The amount of awful decisions in this movie is staggering, for example, in the books, Alice’s father is Satan and her mother is one of the major threats, but in the movie her father is just some random human and her mother is basically just a throw away minion. And they made one of the side villains into the spook’s servant even though he already had one that was 100 times cooler and is one of the best characters in the books. You have something cool so just do that, it’s like video game movie adaptation levels of stupidity.

[@kelvinle8662]

They got rid of the Bogart?

[@mervyboy]

I will never understand these directors egos and the need to stray so heavily from the source material when the source material is what made the book interesting it is just plain infuriating. I still havent forgiven that artemis movie yet and proabably never will.

[@mkm7251]

You’d think this would be easy. The work is already done for you. The hardest part should adapting the text to the screen.

[@josephrobinson6171]

@@mervyboy It's because they want to "make their mark". So many look down on doing adaptations, and ruin them, like Altered Carbon (ruined in season 1)

[@MythMSV]

You helped me so much with writing good D&D stories, villains & NPC's.

[@Psychologist_Eugen_Fitzherbert]

I watched this in theater and when this movie ended, i felt completely confused. i was still waiting for the story to start. just the feeling of "that was it?". i was like 15 back then, and knew nothing about movie making, but i was still baffled

[@icarusablaze1831]

The Last Apprentice (Spook's Apprentice) series was my shit back in middle school. I actually discovered the series when the movie was announced and fell in love with the books. Never fucked with the movie though, but I HIGHLY reccomend the books. I dunno how they hold up now, but I remember it being a cozy dark fantasy full of Irish/British folklore and creatures, kind of like a darker Harry Potter / Spiderwick chronicles. [SPOILER BELOW] The characters literally battle Satan himself and decapitate him at one point in the series and carry his head around in a sack for a whole book. Shit was metal as fuck as a kid! The final book in the series was a clusterfuck though, and the sequel series was ass, but damn, were those first (12?) books awesome. R.I.P Joseph Delaney

[@samiam7327]

Maybe i should check if my local library has some of those, they sound like a story i could enjoy.

[@icarusablaze1831]

@Sam Iam For sure, my local library had almost all the books so def check and see 👌

[@TheHetzer-xy9lb]

I didn't realise the author had died. Agree about the last 4 books though.

[@EliasYork]

This was the worst way to find out Delaney died

[@TheNobleFive]

Thank you I forgot the name of that series ages ago. I read the first book and it was one of the only of its genre that clicked with me. Wish I stuck with it and got into fantasy novels and now I can. I also have Sabriel to return to. Really good dark fantasy mixed with some east Asian cultural inspiration, in my opinion.

[@someromaboo]

I had actually read the books, The Wardrobe chronicles or The last apprentice in America, up to volume 6 before I watched the movie by chance on Television. I was a big fan of the books and I'm still quite fond of them. I was only able to watch bits and pieces of it because everytime I sat down and watched a part of it I would inevitably angrily storm off the living room after complaining about inaccuracy. Later that year I would also watch the Percy Jackson movies. Before that I thought Hollywood was just bad at adapting anime and mangas, now I knew that Hollywood was just bad at adapting anything that wasn't some prestige novel.

[@gabrielandradeferraz386]

Hollywood is bad at adapting.

[@liamcollinson5695]

​@@gabrielandradeferraz386agreed look at what they have done to nearly all anime live adaptions.

[@davidgantenbein9362]

I think Hollywood usually has two separate types of problems when adapting other stuff: (a) they think that they are better than the original author and hence have every right to „improve“ it or (b) they are hired for a job and don’t care for the source, hence throw in substandard bs and call it a workday. It’s probably the reason why they sometimes hit the mark with prestige books: they themselves are fans and put effort and love into the adaptation. If either the love or the effort are missing, we just get generic bad Hollywood writing, which is ironically really, really bad and not even close to mediocre (aka they are often worse at writing than they think).

[@chijiokeokorafor6690]

What's the name of the books/book series?

[@mellofury]

​@@chijiokeokorafor6690 The Last Apprentice.

[@justbenagain2291]

The edits just keep getting better and better. Great break down as always

[@eray4275]

This was announced right after I finished reading the books and I was so excited… it really is a shame what they did to the story

[@johnwilbur3050]

Seventh sons of seventh sons often have supernatural powers in folklore

[@RedFloyd469]

While true, this is something that should have been clarified within the fantasy universe you are setting up. We all more or less have an understanding of the archetype of the witch or the dragon or the monster-hunter, but everything beyond simple archetypes should be explored within the confines of your story. Think of it like this: there are many stories with witches, prophecies, dragons and ghosts. But of those stories, only a relative few have more complex concepts like "seventh son of a seventh son" or "the dragon's weakness is his greed for gold" or "the monster hunter has no emotions (the witcher)" or "the prophecy can be broken" or "the prophecy is set in stone". Because of the vast amount of differences between fantasy stories and their concepts, a writer can not simply expect the audience to already know everything they need to know in order for the fantasy world to make sense. You can get away with tiny little details being unclear, but not when those details add up, have massive plot relevance and will explain character motivations throughout the story. This is especially true when the work you are adapting is relatively vague and not part of the general zeitgeist. Post 2001, the whole world pretty much knew what a Balrog was. But post 2014 (the release date of seventh son), I'd bet not even the majority of the world's populace would know about the somewhat vague origins of "seventh sons of seventh sons have weird powers" in SOME folklore. Lord of the rings didn't need to explain what a balrog was, because we could see it plain and simply in it's full awesome glory. But when your concept is abstract and vague, all you can rely on is the information that you have already set up in the story. And this information was nowhere to be found in the film.

[@planescaped]

I vaguely recalled that there was _something_ in medieval folktales about 7th sons of 7th sons.

[@cajunguy6502]

Yes, but it's not a very well know concept in folklore. What was the last time this trope was used? I had to look it up to find out it was actually a legend and not something the movie/book made up.

[@pexxajohannes1506]

Not just in folklore but in 16th century je was believed to be a healer and especially poweverful if 7th son of 7th son.

[@TarossBlackburn]

I only know about the eighth son of an eighth son...

Props for the Iron Maiden. I'm pretty sure that if they had filmed that album's story, it would have been a better movie.

[@eldeano9964]

'Maiden are storytellers, ehich is why they were invented by professors and teachers, to educate us about history and literature.

[@normalviewer740]

Puss in Boots has been my favorite movie since seeing it upon release. I think it’s honestly my favorite movie of all time. Glad you’re doing well and I can’t wait to see more!

[@smial-_-4773]

"You should have gone for the moon" literally the best piece of cinema in this video

[@kevinrwhooley9439]

I remember reading the books and loving their gothic atmosphere. But Hollywood had to come along and ruin something creepily beautiful.

[@wetpool2969]

Have to love how Filmento edits his videos. I mean, the analysis and raw criticism of the movies is the greatest I’ve seen on YT, but I gotta give it to you (Filmento), you really know how to transfer information and keep the audience interested. The memes, the jokes, everything is incredibly well written to the script of the video. So perfectly implemented. I don’t study cinema or anything like that but I really like and appreciate your content. Looking forward for more :)

[@g.d.graham2446]

Absolutely

[@almostalucard9021]

The books this was 'adapted' from were my absolute favourites, and I remember going to a bookstore to buy the latest one and heard from the woman working there that they were making a movie from the series. I was immediately worried about it because I already knew how bad adaptations can be. Glad I didn't pay any further attention to this movie and enjoyed the books to the fullest (although I wasn't a fan of the last one).

[@reachtt]

You said it perfectly! The problem with a lot of movies these days is: Things happens "because." There is no rule to what the villain's power can do! They can "because" period. You see that a lot in horror films. It's so annoying and I feel brain melting as I watch them...

[@yorkipudd1728]

IMO, Stardust (2007) is a perfect fantasy film. Every actor gives it their all, the world is unique and it's hilarious throughout with the bonus of a wonderful ending. Love that film.

[@DS-mi9ru]

12 year old me was so mesmerized with Claire Danes in that movie that I watched it a dozen times haha

[@SkRo0L3w5e]

I love that movie too

[@sayanthrejinair6744]

My god I love that film.

[@MS-sb9ov]

Absolutely, and to cap it off a brilliant Take That song at the end (which incidentally brought them back from oblivion).

[@malaysianman5941]

Yes ! And also the first maleficent was equally good imo

[@andrewbyrne2173]

In mythology the seventh son of a seventh son, was supposed to a wizard or sorcerer.

[@gabrielandradeferraz386]

Or, if you are Brazilian, a werewolf.

[@NoCodeFilmmaker]

Thank you so much for so many objective and in-depth break-downs. Your videos have truly helped me understand so much more about storytelling. Especially the character studies.

[@shinaikouka]

During the beginning of the video, I thought, "Hey.. that actor playing the 7th Son looks familiar. Oh, that's the guy who seems to always get cast as the villain!" It looks like he did get a chance as the hero for once. 😋

[@littlejohn8435]

The opening scene of the spook buying the farm kid could be remedied by the family saying that there was a spook that saved their family or relatives previously. So as a thank you, they will offer their kid to help.

[@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl]

Way too much like the witcher

[@littlejohn8435]

@@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl They copied much of the concept so might as well.

[@davidgantenbein9362]

Or simply go for some exposition, where the family fully knows why the Spook wants the Seventh son and they don’t want that but have ultimately to cave in to the supposed fate of a Seventh son. Would have been a nice chance to give the audience some kind of understanding that this is a big deal and why. Instead it’s less informative and less intense than a farmer buying a cow.

[@zerlz9078]

Another fix could be for the spook to be having the visions as opposed to the boy. That way, it better shows why he finds the boy important to have as his apprentice, despite not wanting one.

[@carolharper1241]

In the book they call the spook to apprentice the boy bc he needs a job. No visions or purchasing necessary lol

[@eddieford9373]

One thing I loved about the movie is it does the whole "we need to be at the bad guys before a certain time when they get super powerful" cliche. But, then they actually do. Most movies still let the bad guys get their power up.

[@lemeres2478]

9:25 I can think of how you redo that opening to make sense. Have her chained in the cell with a sun revolving scene to imply time. Then red moon, and you add random red energy affects in the air- it shows the audience that there is just more power going around at this time. You then have her stretching her finger out, trying to grasp one of these wisps of energy, much like a prisoner reaching for a lock pick on the ground. Once she gets it, she then bursts the chain on that arm using magic. With the free arm, she then grabs more and more wisps, and THEN you can have her dragon her way out of the situation. Combined, this shows someone suffering from the weight of time in imprisonment as they struggle to grab the single sliver of hope for their escape.

[@lemeres2478]

Red magic energy might also work well of reigning in her power set. Maybe make it finite and something she has to work to get most of the time outside of rare astrological events. Sucking out life force? Maybe she was just sucking the magic from that first spook apprentice to top off her tank. This implies it is something internal, it can be taken away, and you die without it. Also, maybe make her take some from that assassin she killed, but it was just a tiny speck of it, since that guy wasn't a spook, and have her complain that it wasn't really worth the effort. Once you introduce a specific, finite power source, it is easier to write off her other abilities. So healing people? She vomits out red energy to do it- which implies she is doing the same process that killed that apprentice. She can't heal herself? She tries, but she can't cough any out because you ran her dry.

[@bloodoftheunicorns2621]

I have all the whole ward stone chronicles book series and was excited for this movie. Then I saw the movie and a child’s heart was broken that day. It’s almost like these companies don’t like making money. If you would like a darker version of Harry Potter give this book series a read.

[@seventhshin0bi864]

Bro I read these books religiously 😢. Sucked when I watched the film and went “Where tf is Grimalkin?”

[@desert_rat3766]

Loved the books. Another series ruined by film unfortunately

[@alispeed5095]

Best moment was "grimalkin vs Slither?' Holywood missed out coz Grimalkin was a strong female char through and through. She was perfectly written.

[@TheHetzer-xy9lb]

As a massive fan of the books this adaptation was on par with Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters to me, yes it was that bad.

[@leileyaravencroft]

I would almost argue that this was much worse. As you didn't necessarily need to know so much lore to get Percy. Yes, it was a HORRIBLE adaptation but you still understood what was happening. The Seventh Son sounds like there is SO MUCH backstory and lore that they truly half-assed and/or left out completely. Plus it seems like the script writers truly never read the books at all. Not even cliff notes.

[@TheHetzer-xy9lb]

@@leileyaravencroft the problem with the writing is they either added random elements from later books, for example the main Spook was previously in love with a witch that could turn into a dragon but that was a completely different character, and they just added original stuff that made no sense. The first book was not about saving the world from the witch queen, she was just a very powerful and evil witch that had killed a lot of people. They just added so much that was from later or just nonsense instead of the actual plot of the books.

[@abadyr_]

I remember reading the first book (maybe also some of the sequels, I cannot recall) when I was a kid, and really liking it. I had no idea this existed though.

[@DarkPhoenixSaga]

I'm such a fan of the books, I wish this movie never existed.

[@IanPilgreen]

That deep, echoing "huh?" soundbite is basically just the sum of this movie. I'll be honest, I quite literally forgot this film came out until this morning, thank you for rightfully tearing it apart

[@arandombard1197]

Wait, this was an adaptation of the Spook's Apprentice? What the actual fuck, that's unrecognisable.

[@williamkifer5583]

lol, I was struggling to remember what actually happened in this movie when you hit the line, “It shouldn’t be impossible to remember what happened in a movie.” Spot on sir.

[@lichtpopsicle772]

I usually hate movies (there are some that I’ve liked but speaking generally) they tend to be too long and boring, heavy handed with messages that are an absolute no brainer and the ones that aren’t rely upon their cast of super stars that I loathe even more. Yet somehow I love watching filmento, I’ve binged every last video of his multiple times and I’m always coming away with the feeling of learning something new. Keep up the great work man :)

[@bendhobbit]

Oh man, I totally remember watching this on DVD back in the day, and I completely agree with every criticism. In almost every scene I kept saying "why did..." Or "why didn't...". To me it seems like the script was cobbled together by people who wanted cool action moments but had no idea how to write good character motivations or interactions.

[@frop_8750]

I remember watching it in cinema with my parents when i was a kid. Even before the pandemic i went to cinema once in a year at best, so it was a big event for me.

[@Mrpeely1]

What pandemic 😂

[@paulpauleon1285]

9:09 I remember as a kid I thought that this guy was Lord Garmadon from Lego Ninjago.

[@luigi_border]

This happens often because some studio exectutives have "hunch" and invest in bad stuff without research, force their teams to come up with reasons to make a film, and in a few months they have a whole thing going.

[@Britdarg]

An easy solution to the red moon/amulet thing would be that the witch needs the amulet to cause the red moon which will then give her ultimate power or whatever. You still need to put work in to make it interesting and establish clear rules, but it's a start.

[@robinliesens7983]

The nightmare comparison is so on point. I watched this one at the movies back in the day and completely forgot I saw it or that it existed until this vid popped up.

[@YatiAcharya]

Have I watched this movie? No. Have I even heard of this movie? No. Will I watch Filmento's breakdown of this movie? Absolutely.

[@graphthis2249]

When the movie was first announced and I heard that it was based off of a book by Orson Scott card I was intrigued. I enjoyed reading enders game. So I decided to check out this book as well and that series was a total trip and then this movie came out. What a train wreck. So thank you to Hollywood for introducing me to the book you failed to adapt!

[@ankushnishad1165]

This movie is based on The Spook's Apprentice by Joseph Delaney and is not connected to the book Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card.

[@graphthis2249]

@@Will_Parker haha that’s messed up

[@phrozen91]

the books are amazing...so interesting and scary. Idk how the movie turned out so bad

[@martinithechobit]

The actress playing the witch in the cage at the opening sequence; When she monologue in the rain she looked miserable. That was the precise moment when I realized ohhh boy.

[@xym07]

Looking back from now the cast is fantastic. Two Academy Award winners(Bridges and Moore), stellar actors(Vikander, Williams and Hounsou.) No matter how talented the actors are, bad screenplay and direction could make an abomination like this.

[@lubb]

I’m so happy this channel is growing and succeeding, I thoroughly enjoy sitting down and watching these breakdowns. Keep up the good work mate! (I also bought and read the book 10/10)

[@Teraclon]

The books were so damn good. This movie made me cry when it came out...

[@calvintabor5734]

You're the only KZbin where I absolutely never skip the ads. Great stuff as always 😊

[@lynx9908]

I’d like to say I watch these videos to get advice, but deep down, it’s really just the filmento cams I’m here for

[@sciencepluspotato1294]

It has become a recurring gag with my friends how much i hate this movie. I went in thinking it would be a somewhat good adaptation of the books, but it turns out the writers clearly didn't read anything beyond a 3 sentence summary of the plot of the books. If you ever want to do a video on how NOT to adapt a/multiple books, this is 100% a very good movie to do it on.

[@adaytorememberfan121]

The Last Apprentice books are so awesome and fun to read. I was so excited when this was announced and I hate how much they messed it up. They mashed 3 books together and added a bunch of stuff that wasn’t in the books at all. Really disappointed

[@jesustyronechrist2330]

I love it when Filmento makes a video of a multi-million dollar Hollywood blockbuster that I've never heard of. Happens strangely often...

[@GuukanKitsune]

You know, I saw the thumbnail, and I thought: "You know, I've never heard of this movie before. I'll click to at least find out something about it." Almost three minutes into the video, I realized, I have in fact seen this movie THREE TIMES. And it made such little impression on me that I have ZERO memory of it. Literally, all three times I saw it and thought 'Huh, never heard of this movie before, I'll give it a shot.' It just slips right out of your head like an anti-meme. I am probably going to completely forget it again within minutes of finishing this video. It's like that SCP nobody can remember anything about. That's really impressive, since scenes from even half or quarter decent films... or even the most atrocious war crimes against filmmaking like Pot Zombies... at least stick in my head like a barbed harpoon. When I see the thumbnail or cover or read the title, I remember that I saw the movie. This one? Four occasions now, nothing, Literally zero recollection at all. I absolutely believed I hadn't seen this movie, after having seen it a quarter-dozen times... which is usually enough times for me to start memorizing lines. Which frankly proves you right on about every count.

[@anirudhchakra3975]

Everybody says Hollywood failed at making Taylor kitsch, Jay Courtney and sam Worthington as box office STARS ..but everyone forgot Hollywood also tried to make Ben Barnes and Star with Narnia 2 and this movie .and failed miserably😂

[@donaldsimmons4526]

Oh shit, you wrote a book! I’m all over that! Congrats on your success, well earned.

[@CoalCreekCroft]

Exactly my impression on forgetting it. "Oh. This looks like a good one. Why haven't I ...? Ah, I DID."

[@99barun]

I didn't even know this movie existed.

[@IcicleFerret]

In some folklore, (I'm not sure which... I heard it somewhere when I was younger and it stuck...) has magical abilities. I've heard it in context of being able to speak with spirits or see the future. If you already know this tidbit, it makes sense why the next apprentice needs to be a seventh son: Only a seventh son would have the natural magical ability to be trained. Why he needs an apprentice, though, might need some s'plaining.

[@leileyaravencroft]

The seventh son of the seventh son is definitely seen in European folklore but I believe I've also seen it in some Chinese stories too.

[@pivanov3321]

In the book it's not that the spook needs an apprentice, he already has trained several. It's the farmers family that needs to find a trade for the boys: 1st inherent the farm, 2nd blacksmith , teacher etc. They actually pay the Spook to take the boy as apprentice to teach him the trade. Only the 7th boy can be trained to be a Spook (there is also vision involves , mother being a witch).

[@an_fiach]

From what I vaguely remember from the first book i think the Spook is simply getting old and needs a replacement at some point because Spooks are always needed

[@tylersmith9942]

I can't believe that SOMEONE remembered this movie. I've asked around if literally anyone remembered Seventh Son and for years no one knew what the hell I was talking about

[@swoogydoogy2654]

I remember being a kid learning this film was based on a book and then when I finally watch it thought, "their is no way the books could be this shit?". I'm glad to say that I enjoyed them.

[@raullarsen5013]

Absolutely love these videos, and I'm happy to see the success of your hard work for your book is paying off!

[@benjaminaltube8731]

This is literally the first time I've heard of this movie.

[@wonkawilly8786]

I was deployed on the Nimitz when I finally read the book series. It felt like I watched a movie about it, but couldn’t remember anything. After finishing the Wardstone chronicles and then finding this movie again to watch it, I was so confused. The hand full of things that aligned with the book felt rushed and coincidental since everything else felt made up on the spot with ZERO care.

[@SomeKindaHero117]

Honest to goodness I'm glad I found this channel. If only for the fact that you keep telling me to just go learn video editing and do this kind of thing myself. But it's more than that. I'm glad I get these breakdowns you do because you're not just a critic, you're looking at it as a film-maker which I find amazing tbh

[@marvelprince]

I laughed out loud waaaay too many times for a movie I never heard of before! Great video

[@robinbarnard4726]

The Wardstone Chronicles (book series) on which the movie is supposedly based is so good and I think it has great potential to be adapted into a third person RPG video game... I'd love that

[@Vince-tt1uj]

That fight against the armor with LotR soundtrack in the background made it 100 times better.

[@nelson8374]

The dark knight slaps man. Truly the height of comic book cinema

[@The9thMonth]

Hot damn, I remember this movie. I lost all memory of it in around 6 hours after watching it. I recall seeing it while travelling via bus. It's so forgettable that the only reason I remembered it is because of the old man.

[@joshuamiller4308]

I love your videos. I can tell that you put a lot of time and effort in making your videos.

[@WULF670]

This film was nothing but a bastardization of a very awesome and beloved book series. It has absolutely nothing in common with the source material except for in title and character names. The fact that they market the books after it with cover art and so, is just a unforgivable. I have been a fan of the books since I picked up the first one and was excited when I heard that it was getting adapted to the big screen. Even more so when I first saw pictures of Jeff Bridges as the Spook. He was spot on, just like I imagined him and thought this was a good sign. Tom was cast a lot older, but I could let that slide for the adaptation's sake. To me he looked like what I would imagine Tom would've looked like if he was older. Even Tom's mother, Mam, was a good cast. Then, the pictures of Mother Malkin and Bony Lizzy showed up - along with all these other . . . I don't know what you call them . . . monsters, I guess. And I went: "Huh? What the fuck is this? What are all these other things? I don't remember Mother Malkin being hot. She's an old evil crone who's been held prisoner in a mossy pit for I think about 12 years. As with the motivations, I can see how they ran into trouble since the exposition for all of them would take up at least three films! Which would've been fine. The world is rich enough to not bore. But, no! Let's get to the CGI actions scenes as quick as possible. I've just seen it again recently while it was on tv in the background after having read the books again since it came out and it left a bitter taste in my mouth. Who are these characters?! The Spook is suppose to be Tom's mentor and teacher in all things Spook. That's the whole fucking point! Boggards play a big role in the story, yet in the film when Tom asks the Spook "What is a Boggard?" the Spook replies with "You don't want to know." The Spook would NEVER say that!! That's the point of him being there! In response I had actually gone and done my own adaption into a screenplay. Not for a move, but for a series and I was able to, with a little creative licensing, still stay true to the source material and exposition and motivations without it dragging or getting boring. Oh, what could've been. I think this one needs another chance at the screen, but this time in a series format and done by people who have actually read the books and love the world. Maybe one day.

[@rakeshmalik5385]

I remember seeing previews for "Seventh Son" and looking forward to seeing it, and then it vanished. Now I know why :) I'm looking forward to buying a copy of your book when I'm working again!

[@spittinvenom9843]

So bad I’ve forgotten it ever existed, so sorry for Jeff Bridges 😞 2:33

[@konrad94886]

07:00 dude I almost believed that's what the armor was actually saying but it was the screaming cat guy 🤣🤣

[@dnichl]

I've kept up with Hollywood movie and film releases my entire teen and adult life and this is literally the first time I'm hearing about this movie 🤯 ofc there are many fly under the radar over the years but this being 100m+ budget with a solid casting (bridges) just blows my mind i never saw marketing or any other material covering it.

[@JoseALugoR]

I imagine the seventh son of a seventh son idea was "borrowed" from the Terry Prattchet books, in that universe only the eighth son of an eighth son can become a wizard and learn magic, but in that universe the idea that 8 is a magical number is very well established and is seen in more than the eighth son thing.

[@ankushnishad1165]

Not really, Seventh son of a Seventh son being special originates from folklore, Irish folklore specifically it seems like.

[@vitorafmonteiro]

It's an even older folklore idea than that though, the idea that a 7th child (or 7th's 7th) instead of 8th is especially blessed and special is common in European and even Eurasian and postcolonial non-European, especially in werewolf and other shapeshifter folklore (Prattchet was intentionally playing with that). I guess if one's in the know on folklore the idea is sort of self-explanatory, but this film needed to explain it to the western audiences that forgot those tropes in recent years.

[@dcbandit]

As someone with a bit of folklore/fairytale knowledge, I know why the seventh son of a seventh son is a thing, but this movie should have had an opening fantasy world building story dump, like in Lord of the Rings, explaining why a seventh son is relevant to the story. They're essentially the 3rd son in fairytales, magic reasons meaning this particular person is gonna end up on an or adventure or whatever. Probably the best example, in the original Puss in Boots book. I won't explain here what happens, but it starts with a the 3rd son getting a cat and then kicked out of his house with nothing else, and ending up the lord of a castle his cat got him through trickery and by killing the owner, an evil shape-shifting ogre who terrorized the land for some time. If Star Wars had followed this trope, Luke Skywaker would have been a 3rd son.

[@elijahnewell8064]

I was NOT expecting that Bob the Builder reference, lol 9:53

[@billybones9303]

Still has better CGI than Marvel Films these days

[@alerojas7714]

that's what happens when you don't see the first six sons movies

[@doughauck57]

I can answer one question for you: the idea that the 7th son of a 7th son has special powers is an old Romany (i.e. gypsy) legend. Most famously, such men have the second sight, hence his visions, but they sometimes also have additional powers like super strength or magical abilities. The film’s creators made the mistake of assuming most people would just know that, in the same way that most would just know the powers of a vampire without needing explanation, but the 7th son legend is nowhere near as famous.

[@gregorysgarrison]

This was filmed around the time Bridges was downsizing from his massive estate to a regular little house in the burbs. He also hasn't been through any messy divorces or tax troubles that I know of. Residuals alone must be millions per year for him. So really there is no reason he would take on cheesy projects unless it was just something he wanted to do.