The Seeker: The Dark is Rising
Thursday, August 23rd, 2007The Seeker: The Dark is Rising - In Theatres October 5, 2007
It’s a dicey proposition to see one of your favorite books translated into film. Many of Tolkien’s fans were wary before Peter Jackson foisted his Lord of the Rings masterpieces upon us. I loved the Lord of the Rings books, but I was never that nervous about the film adaptation once Jackson started sharing his plans and attitude toward the films. To say that turned out pretty well would be a gross understatement. With this one…. so far I’m on the fence.
The trailer on the website linked above is (aside from being pathetically small) not making me giddy. Not that it’s bad, but it doesn’t ring true with the memory I have of the books I treasured 20+ years ago. That’s where the real hurdle is - living up to fan expectations. And that’s not really a fair bar to set for a film. No director is going to be able to completely recreate the look and feel of the worlds and people I saw in my head reading through those multi-award winning books as a young teenager. Plus, judging from the lack of marketing I’ve seen about the film, I’m thinking they had a modest budget, which doesn’t help my perception.
On the other hand, the rest of the website does do a fairly good job of creating the atmosphere I was expecting. When I was reading the character synopses, I suddenly started to feel the excitement I had been longing for. It does help, as well, to know that the book’s author, Susan Cooper, wrote the film adaptation.
I whole-heartedly want this movie to succeed. I desperately want it to be good. There were very few books that I got this invested in as a child, and I was an avid reader. In fact, the only other series that comes to mind when I think about quality of this level are Lord of the Rings, The Pendragon Cycle by Stephen Lawhead, and possibly the Chronicles of Prydain stories by Lloyd Alexander (though those are for a younger audience).
(By the way, since I mentioned the Pendragon Cycle, let me also say that I would love to see Lawhead’s Taliesin, Merlin, and Arthur books turned into movies. Holy cow, that could be awesome, and I really think it would have a mass appeal, given its Arthurian topic. I’d skip the 4th book, Pendragon, as I really think Arthur wraps up the series nicely. Those books were so good that I momentarily considered naming my first daughter after one of their main characters, Charis.)
Anyway… the fact that they added “The Seeker” to the front of the title bothers me a little, too. Here’s hoping the movie surpasses its trailer, and that I can let go of the picky stuff. Either way, I’m going to try as hard as I can to see this movie in the theater (which is no small feat with two kids under 3 years old in the house).
Technorati Tags: Susan Cooper, Fantasy movies, fantasy books, legends, Lord of the Rings, Tolkien, The Dark Is Rising
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