Season of the Witch

Season of the Witch follows closely in the footsteps of last year's Solomon Kane - its Medieval Europe Hollywood-style. The recipe is quite simple - start with lots of mud and dirt, mist works well too. A few monks, a few knights and lots of dirty peasants, add in some bleak scenery and a stunning castle. Then you need to find a way to factor in some combination of the Crusades, the Plague and witchcraft - because those were really the only things that happened in Europe for about 400 years (Season of the Witch should be applauded for managing all three). Add in a mix of different European accents, apart from for the hero(es) who for no accountable reason will speak perfect American. All that this film really misses out on is an appearance by Max Von Sydow, but almost makes up for this with a Christopher Lee cameo.

The story follows knightly Nicolas Cage (sporting yet another dodgy hairdo) and best pal Ron Perlman who give up serving the church after the atrocities of the crusades, but are "persuaded" to do one last job, transporting an accused witch many miles to a monastery for trial, accompanied by a priest (The History Boys' Stephen Campbell Moore), another knight, a young wannabe and a swindler as a guide. The journey is utterly predictable and you can't help feeling that the film tips its hand as to whether the girl really is a witch rather too early. Still the action is competently handled and Ron Perlman is an old-hand at this kind of nonsense. Nicolas Cage enjoyed something of a renaissance last year with Kick Ass and Bad Lieutenant, but is back on going through the motions and surprisingly subdued form here (although this is his fourth leading role in little over 9 months, so maybe he was just plain tired!). The script is laughable, often quite literally and there's actually a certain amount of guilty pleasure in lines such as "we're going to need more holy water!". Its generally much better when it realises its own nonsense and doesn't take itself too seriously rather than the odd moment that it strays into worthiness and pontificating about the abuses of the church.

Overall - 5/10 Its nonsense and generally it knows it is, but is quite entertaining nonsense most of the time.