Movie: Season of the Witch
Cast: Nicolas Cage (Hehmen)
Ron Perlman (Felson)
Claire Foy (The Girl)
Genre: drama, adventure
Synopsis: The movie takes place during the crusades in the late 1200’s and early 1300’s. Behmen and Felson are two knights who have been fighting in the crusades for many years. Behmen finally has had enough when the church’s representative orders them to kill unarmed women and children. So Behmen and his companion, Felson, quit the crusade. They are soon arrested and imprisoned for desertion. A Cardinal (Christopher Lee) offers them a deal. Europe is being ravaged by the plague. The Cardinal has imprisoned a suspected witch that he thinks is responsible for the epidemic. He wants the two knights (in exchange for pardons) to escort the prisoner to a monastery where the monks will put her on trial. They alone possess the secret spell that, if she is found guilty of being a witch, will enable them to execute her and bring an end to the plague.
The ‘witch’ seems to be a helpless young girl. We soon learn that she is far from helpless. The journey to the monastery is full of dangers – some normal, some supernatural. The movie culminates with a battle at the monastery.
My two cents: A pretty decent medieval adventure/thriller/horror. Ron Perlman was especially fun as the sidekick. The entity they battle at the end was a true bad-ass. It was nice to see Christopher Lee (although it was not easy to tell it was him). I think this movie has gotten a bad rap from the critics. Sure, it’s probably not going to get a Best Picture nomination – but a movie does not have to be Oscar material to be pretty enjoyable. Another thing I liked was the mix of humor, horror and suspense. What it does not do is sell the idea that living back in the 1300’s was a lot of fun. Everyone looked like they were a month overdue for a change of clothes and a good bath. Lots of action, lots of humor and very few dull parts – I never caught myself checking my watch.
[12]
No comments:
Post a Comment