TV: Earthsea

After he saves his village from an attack, Ged (Shawn Ashmore) becomes apprentice to master wizard Ogion (Danny Glover). Frustrated by the slow pace of his study, he travels to the wizard school on Roke island. When he accidentally releases a shadow while trying to impress his schoolmates he has to run from the Gebbeth, the shadow’s physical form...


A Wizard of Earthsea was first published in 1968 and this story of prophecies and broken amulets isn’t helped by the thousands of computer games and fantasy stories since then that have used the same kind of plot devices. It’s saved in part by a great performance by Shawn Ashmore. His portrayal of an arrogant boy who feels he can do anything is a nice shift away from his X-Men persona (and there’s a knowing Iceman gag early on).

In comparison, Sebastian Roche wastes his turn as King Tygath, which is a shame in what should be a meaty bad guy role. As for Smallville’s Kristin Kreuk, the character of Tenar is hardly in the series and she would have been better taking the role of Kossil (played by Jennifer Calvert), a sexy, treacherous woman with more screen time and better lines.

The tale is enchanting enough, taking in battles with human forces, plenty of magic use and even a meeting with a dragon. The characters of Ged and Tenar are the emotional centres of the piece, but until the very end they only see each other in visions. This doesn’t really work as – based on what we see of their visions – it’s hard to understand the depth of feeling when they come together.

Overall, this is a hit and miss affair, and fans of the novels may feel let down. It’s a shame the original story doesn’t allow more screen time between Kreuk and Ashmore.

Buy Earthsea on DVD at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com