The Seeker

Recently, I went to the theatre and saw a movie called The Seeker: The Dark is Rising. Now, this movie is (loosely) based on my favorite series of books as a child, The Dark is Rising. Now, to say this movie was not exactly the same as the books would be an understatement; the movie covers what happens in two of the books, but wraps up nicely without any hope of a sequel. There are, however, five or six books.

Many would think that I should hate this movie. On the contrary, though; I love it, and I hope it succeeds in theaters, because the company that make it, Walden Media, has a reputation for adapting my favorite childhood books into great movies with positive moral values. Well, not that values has anything to do with how good a movie is, but it's nice to see a movie and feel like you've progressed as a human.

Take, for instance, the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. The Narnia books have been read to and by children for years, for their whimsical tales and, lets face it, mega-overt Christian undertones. Walden Media took the basics of the book and made it something most anyone would enjoy. The first movie was so successful that they decided to do another of the books, Prince Caspian.

Another example would be Bridge to Terebithia. I'm not going to tell you anything about the book, because if you haven't read it at this point, you're probably never going to. I will say that it has a fantastically different ending from anything else I ever read as a kid, and the movie really brings that across.

Really, I'm just trying to say that Walden Media is a great company. They're doing things for films that really needed to be done, and they're doing it in a way that makes kids want to watch movies that are full of moral fiber. Like sneaking them vitimins. Or shoving carrots in their mouth while they sleep. y'know, whatever.