Fans of Susan Cooper's epic sequence of fantasy novels 'The Dark is Rising' will be outraged by this pathetic adaptation of her work. Everyone else will be baffled, bored and outraged that they were tricked into seeing such an uninspired mess.

The adaptation has drawn understandably unfavorable comparisons with the 'Harry Potter' series, but the novels of the former are actually far superior only adding insult to injury. Published in the 1960s and '70s, the series is full of Arthurian/pagan mythology and sinister dark forces.

The American-friendly version (they even changed the nationality and character of the hero) glosses over plot, the dark undertones and the series' rich literary heritage, leaving the audience with a hollow frankenstien of fantasy stereotypes which have been patched together in the vain hope of forming a cohesive whole.

Will Stanton (Alexander Ludwig), a shy 14-year-old, is the unlikely hero of this battle between good and evil (yes, I know it sounds familiar, but these books were written a good 30 years before Harry Potter). On his fourteenth birthday, it becomes apparent that Will is different when he begins to see strange things and develop odd powers. The reason for his transformation is that he is The Seeker — the last in a group of Old Ones, the protectors against evil (including Ian McShane and Frances Conroy).

Will has to find a collection of six signs, which will give him power, in order to stop the villainous Rider (a snarling Christopher Ecclestone) from unleashing his evil power and taking over the world.

In a flurry of CGI crows, bad acting and barely threatening villains, director David L Cunningham whisks us through the threadbare plot and wraps the story up with a smarmy good-trumps-evil conclusion.

There is really no excuse for watching this movie when you can take the books out of the library.

Extras

If you make it all the way through the movie without falling asleep or smashing the DVD into a thousand pieces, you may be tempted to catch the stash of extras, which could easily match the film in length. Follow smug actors as they take you through a behind-the-scenes featurette, mull over those deleted scenes in the hopes that they will fill in the gaps and — if you are still in the land of the living — indulge in the Viking music video. Yes, that's right, there is a Viking music video.