Verdict: ★ ★

Why did a single, 300 page book like The Hobbit get made into an overblown, added to, filler-filled, eye-roll-worthy movie trilogy with all the trimmings… while a 13-novel, kick-ass, amazingly written fantasy fiction series get condensed down to a single, hum-drum 102 minute popcorny flick? How does that happen?

Joseph Delaney had created an entire world of monsters and witches and those who hunt them with full historical background and ideas, not to mention a story line that makes most of what comes out of Hollywood look like children’s number and color books… all under the heading The Last Apprentice. I recommend them for anyone interested!

So needless to say, I was a little excited to see a movie being made. One I figured might be the start of a cool trilogy, but as it seems… all of the Last Apprentice’s lessons were neatly trimmed and we pretty much got a “before and after” look at what could have been an amazing series of movies. Heck, I’ve seen slower transitions in my teenage daughter’s behavior when she gets grounded from her stereo.

When Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore), an ancient witch suddenly gets a surge of power because of a rare Blood Moon appearing, she sees it as her opportunity to take over the world. Unfortunately for her, the only thing standing in her way is famed monster hunter Master Gregory (Jeff Bridges in his best Bane from The Dark Knight Rises voice) and his young apprentice Tom (Ben Barnes, who always seems to look astonished in every movie I’ve ever seen him in for some reason).

Tom’s your typical arrogant, trips over his own feet apprentice and the only things that separate him from Micky Mouse are the brooms carrying buckets of water. A few not so funny laughs come and go but don’t really break up the tension <coffcoffmonotanycoffcoff> of a sudden onslaught of witch-monsters who are attacking villages. A little bit of romance between our hero Tom and a young witch named Alice come and go, but it really does nothing for the story because neither Tom or Alice really seem to know how to act romantic. Mostly they just stare at each other from across a field or when right next to each other, exchange smirks.

<BAM!> Suddenly Tom’s bad ass and knows how to swing swords and fight legions of assassins with nothing but a staff. Holy cats! Where did this guy come from?

All in all, this movie is okay if you want to see some interesting CGI monster action, but even then, there’s not much of it. I’d say spend your money at Amazon on some of Joseph Delaney’s books instead. You’ll get a lot more out of them and since they’re young-adult, your kids might also!