The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising

An American teenager (Alexander Ludwig), living in England with his large family, learns that he is the last of a line of immortal warriors defending the light against the forces of darkness—and with the climactic battle only five days away, he must learn on the job. John Hodge’s script (from Susan Cooper’s novel) has echoes of Harry Potter—an adolescent empowered to battle ultimate evil and save the world—but with less whimsy to leaven the magic. The film is too grimly humorless to be a classic adventure, but it’s eerily entertaining. Director David L. Cunningham couches the tale in oblique, angular images that mirror the young hero’s off-kilter confusion, and Ludwig stands up stalwartly among the expensive special effects, supported by Christopher Eccleston, Ian McShane and Frances Conroy.