Seventh Son is a 2014 action fantasy film directed by Sergei Bodrov, and starring Ben Barnes, Jeff Bridges, Alicia Vikander, Kit Harington, Olivia Williams with Antje Traue and Julianne Moore.

In 1572, the witch Malkin is imprisoned underground by Gregory, the last of the Falcons, a knightly order which defended mankind against supernatural threats.

En route, Gregory is summoned to a walled city by an inquisitor whose forces have subdued one of Malkin's followers, a werebear named Urag.

Tom hesitates when instructed to burn the werebear alive, causing Gregory to dismiss him and light the flame himself.

Gregory feels responsible for every person killed by Malkin, and warns Tom never to show mercy to witches.

By chance, Tom's family is in the city; his Mam kills the warlock Strix and confronts Malkin with her own powers.

Malkin's servant Radu attacks them; he captures Gregory and drives Tusk and Tom over a cliff, leaving them for dead.

[9] In February 2013, Legendary Pictures agreed to give $5 million to recently bankrupt visual effects house Rhythm and Hues Studios so they would complete their work on Seventh Son.

[13] A. R. Rahman revealed that he backed out from the project to compose for Kaaviya Thalaivan, a Tamil historical fiction film, because it gave him the scope to innovate with folk music like never before.

[14] On August 15, 2013, it was announced that Legendary had sold the distribution rights to their new partner Universal Studios, which pulled the film again.

[6] The film opened in France and Lebanon on December 21, 2014, a month and a half ahead of its North America release, and earned $1.2 million.

[22] The following weekend the film added $18.4 million from 24 new markets where it debuted at #1 in Russia, Romania, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

The site's critical consensus reads, "Seventh Son squanders an excellent cast and some strange storyline ingredients, leaving audiences with one disappointingly dull fantasy adventure.

[27] The Hollywood Reporter's Jordan Mintzer writes that it "takes an A-list crew and cast—including Moore sporting a black feather dress and matching eyeliner—and goes nowhere new with it, investing lots in VFX and locations but not enough in an original story anyone cares about".

Bodrov certainly knows his way around epics, as his excellent Oscar-nominated films Mongol and Prisoner of the Mountains attest.

"[28] USA Today's Claudia Puig says, "The 3-D effects are off-putting: Smoke spills out at the audience, and the camera swooshes high and careens over cliffs.

"[29] The Guardian's Jordan Hoffman gave the movie two out of five stars and explained, "While Seventh Son has trace of Saturday afternoon fun, its unoriginal nature gets the better of it...

There are flashes where you think Seventh Son is going to be wise enough to put a spin on the standard script, but by the end it just devolves into another loud, messy CGI brawl.

"Saints be praised for whatever strange magic brought Bridges and Moore together for their own little mini–Big Lebowski reunion, whether it was playfulness, paychecks or an open spot on their calendars.