The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising Movie Review Summary

The next day a tree becomes full of blackbirds, which seem to threaten him. In the mall, he buys a gift for his sister, which has a pattern of symbols on the package. The patterns start moving. He is stopped by two security guards for allegedly shop-lifting something. They take him to an office in the basement. They turn into monsters and then crows. They ask him for the sign. He does not know what they are talking about. He runs away. He escapes back into the mall. Everything seems normal.

Will and his family are invited to a big Christmas party at a big mansion of a nice elderly woman, Miss Greythorne (played by Frances Conroy). He sees the girl he likes at the party, but one of his brothers, Max, upstages him and talks to her first. He goes outside. He is chased by a man on a horse called “The Rider” (played by Christopher Eccleston). The man knocks him down a hill. The Rider catches up to him. He asks for the sign. Will does not know what he is talking about. A group of the people from the mansion come to protect him. The Rider says in five days he will have enough power to destroy them all. The Rider leaves. The group of protectors invites Will to walk with them through time. They go back in time. They enter the Great Hall. The protectors tell Will they are the "old ones" who live outside time. The old ones serve the light. The Rider serves the dark. They tell Will he is the Seeker and he must find 6 signs. They give him a book with clues how to find the signs. They tell him he is the seventh son of a seventh son. Will says he only has five brothers so he is only the sixth son. Will has a premonition of what will happen if he fails and the world is overtaken by darkness.

When Will comes home he is harassed by his twin brothers and with a slight effort he knocks both of them across the room. Will asks his father about an equation of lightness versus darkness. His father knows something about the fight between light and darkness, because he studied it, but he does not tell Will what he knows. In his room in the attic, Will twists his ankle. His mother invites the doctor to come over. The doctor arrives and it is the man "The Rider" pretending falsely to be a nice doctor, but he shows Will he can either help him by fixing his twisted ankle with a touch or make it much worse. When Will's mom is out of the room, The Rider demands the signs. Will refuses to give them up. The doctor/The Rider leaves.

In the attic, Will finds a photo of him and his twin brother as a baby. He asks his mother about it. She said his brother was taken when he was only two weeks old. He disappeared and was never seen again. This means Will is the seventh son because his twin was born right before him. Will realizes it is his destiny to fight the darkness. Will goes to an area in the woods, which is magical and walks back through time to the Great Hall. He reads how he must find the signs from the book. Five of the signs are made from ordinary things, hidden, and scattered throughout time. The sixth sign is hidden in the soul of one freely given. As the old ones watch him Will finds the first sign of stone. One of the old ones, Merriman Lyon (played by Ian McShane) tells Will he can command light, fire, have great strength, and can step through time. Will discovers the first sign fits perfectly on a belt sent to him as a gift by his brother Steven.

The Rider, disguised as the doctor, with his elderly mother, joins Will and his family in church. While the service is going on, they all go back in time. Will and the old ones fight off The Rider. The Rider's mother turns into snakes. Will discovers the second sign in a grave in the crypt under the church using his new powers. Will returns back to present time. The Rider meets a hooded woman on a bridge and reminds her of her rewards for helping him defeat Will.

Maggie comes home with Will's brother James (played by Drew Tyler Bell). She makes an excuse to talk to Will alone. She blows salt into the air in the shape of the pattern Will recognizes as an indicator of the signs. Will asks her if she is an old one. She says she is here to look out for him. He is enchanted by her. The Rider meets Will's brother Max when Max steps outside. Will demonstrates his power of telekinesis to Maggie by moving a knife on the table. James come back and takes Maggie away from Will. Will's anger causes the knife to fly across the room and stick in the wall in near where James just left.

Will goes to talk with Merriman. Will is distracted by Maggie. Merriman tells him don't let a girl distract him; there are only three days left for Will to save the world. Will gets angry and sets trees on fire and explodes a parked car. He is found by his younger sister Gwen, who is worried about Will. Gwen and Will go back in time together. They are suddenly in the middle of an ongoing battle. Will sees one of the signs on a shield carried by a warrior. Will trades his watch for the sign. Will and his sister are returned to the present. Will now has three signs.

The Rider creates a harsh winter storm. Max has been possessed by The Rider. Max confronts Will, telling Will he has issues. They go back in time to 1690. Max physically attacks Will in the street. Will gets away. Will enters a tavern and sees the sign. Will convinces Max he is being used by the darkness. Will knocks Max out with one punch. He finds the fourth sign on a trophy for winning a cock-fight. Max comes to and acts normal again. They return to present time. The Rider gets to the spot too late to get the sign. He finds two of the old ones in the tavern. He attacks them with his blackbirds.

Will's family notices he is different. Will asks his dad what he was working on when his twin brother disappeared. Will's dad admits he was so focused on his study of the light and the dark, that he did not watch the baby properly. Will tells his father it was not his fault. Merrimer tells Will he believes in him and he will find the fifth sign. But Will says he has no idea how to find the sixth one. The storm is the coldest in recorded history. They have run out of food and fuel to keep warm. They go to the mansion of Miss Greythorne. Inside the house is suddenly full of icicles, which fall from the ceiling trying to impale them. It is reveaLed the hooded woman is Maggie. The Rider floods the house. Maggie askS Will for the signs. Will figures out she is trying to trick him. The last sign is on the roof of the house, above a glass ceiling, and when the glass breaks it falls into the room. Will swims under water to retrieve it and finds it. He has the fifth sign.

Maggie suddenly ages to an old woman instead of gaining everlasting life she was promised for betraying Will. The Rider leads the darkness as it covers the land. Will and the old ones, take refuge in the Great Hall. The Rider tricks Will into opening the door by faking the voice of his parents in distress. Darkness overtakes the Great Hall. The Rider shows Will, Tom his twin brother and he will kill him if he does not give up the signs. All the old ones attack The Rider and are thrown into the darkness.

Will figures out his soul freely given unleashes the power of the light. He is the sixth sign. He becomes a beacon of light in the total darkness. He becomes brighter and brighter dispelling the darkness. He restores the power of the light. He fights with The Rider. The Rider is defeated and trapped in a glass globe, cast into a deep well. The old ones return to the Great Hall unharmed. Miss Greythorne brings SWill's twin brother Tom now freed and tells Will to take his brother home. Tom is reunited with his mother and father and the rest of the family.

Best part of story, including ending: This is a nice symbolic film about the fight between good and evil. The special effects are quite good.

Best scene in story: I like the scene when the girl Will loves turns into an old hag when her disguise is revealed. It is nice to see her enchantment spell broken.

Opinion about the main character: Will progresses from a shy boy unsure of himself to a champion warrior who saves the world. It is nice to see his success.