Season of the Witch (2011)

Plopping out in early January, time honoured dumping ground of inferior product and draped in mediocre to poor reviews, Season of the Witch had quite a lot stacked against it. But for all this it ended up being one of the better films I've taken in on a whim, albeit far from any kind of classic or even especially good. Nicolas Cage and Ron Perlman play disillusioned crusaders against witchcraft who get caught trying to escape their service and are recruited for a particularly tricky witch escorting mission. So we get an arduous mission through harsh medieval lands, trekking interspersed with action and capped with a nice blazing finale, and it should be a blast, should be a lot more entertaining than it is, but owing to lack of budget or balls (or some combination of both), it ends up being rather forgettable. The first noticeable problem is studied downplaying from Cage and Perlman, they have some measure of chemistry and a small smattering of good lines, but there's no fire. Both have potential for greatness, and both have a facility for the fantastical but for some reason neither of them chew too much scenery or puff with much in the way of rage so the film constantly feels like its missing its opportunities as well. The ethereal Claire Foy suffers similarly as the witch, she has a sweetly otherworldly way to her and lights up the screen, so its a shame she doesn't have more to do. As for Christopher Lee, well he's barely in it and just about anybody else would have been a worthy substitute. These problems aside Season of the Witch manages to be quite good fun for enough of the time that I overall enjoyed the experience. Its well enough shot to conjure an effectively macabre and misty mood at times, while Dominic Sena handles his directing duties with fair adeptitude, making for some exciting and sporadically stylish action. The pacing is a bit off but never truly dull and one or two low key spooks (the highlight being a rather neat opening) keep things interesting in between the few action set pieces, while the ending is very daft and rather good fun. If only it gelled together better, if only it realised whether it wanted to be a rousing medieval fantasy or a creepy horror and got a better handle on its tone, heck if only it wasn't aimed at a younger audience with its PG13 certificate so it could get away with a few actual shocks. Bah, it could have been a lot worse, 5/10 from me.

Fmovies: Nicolas Cage. Magic. Blockbuster. A familiar combination, since Dominic Sena's Season of the Witch hits theaters only a few months after The Sorcerer's Apprentice (whose producer Jerry Bruckheimer, in the oddest of coincidences, worked with both star and director on Gone in 60 Seconds, eleven years back). While the latter was a by-numbers Disney effort (plenty of effects, a general lack of heart), Sena's latest work manages to also be quite a bit boring and occasionally ludicrous.

This time, Cage doesn't play a magician, but a crusader who, having witnessed too much bloodshed, runs off to Europe with his fellow soldier and best friend (Ron Perlman). They discover a plague-ridden landscape where witch hunts are an everyday routine, and eventually make it to a village where they encounter a priest (Stephen Campbell Moore) who needs help taking a potential witch (Claire Foy) to a monastery, where she will face trial. Assisted by a loyal knight (Ulrich Thomsen) and an eager youngster (Robert Sheehan), they begin a perilous journey that will test their faith in every possible way.

The storyline certainly had enough spark to produce an interesting movie, but Sena messes with the final product by not knowing what to aim for: depending on the section, Season of the Witch is a historical drama, a thriller with hints of the supernatural or, at worst, a clumsy meld of horror and fantasy (then again, what should we expect from a film that shares its title with the third Halloween flick?). Setting aside factual inaccuracies, namely the fact that the Crusades, witch hunts and black plague didn't occur simultaneously (and what's with Cage's sudden bout of modern cursing in a Medieval setting?), the uneven tone kicks in after a moderately promising first half, leaving room for basic plotting that culminates in a ghastly genre switch and a most annoying "twist".

The acting is a similar mixed bag: Cage does his usual generic blockbuster shtick, which jars considerably with the gravitas coming from Thomsen and, to a lesser extent, Sheehan, both of whom are taking the film far more seriously than required. A cameo by Christopher Lee - who actually looks more like Max von Sydow - livens things up despite its brevity (even Tim Burton has given him more screen time), and the joy of seeing him and Perlman - lovable as always - in the same movie could make up for the rest if the second half of the picture wasn't so shoddy. As for the witches (yes, they do appear in a few scenes), well... they look like cheaper versions of Doctor Who's Weeping Angels, minus the scares.

Season of the Witch could have been interesting, but it comes off as a bland blockbuster with very little to go for it. Sure, it's got Ron Perlman head-butting a demon, but is that enough? Afraid not.

No sir, did not like it, the film felt slapped together from too many clichés. It felt like the production company didn't know if they wanted to make a camp horror or a historical thriller and decided to go halfway in the middle. which did not work.

The opening scene where the heroes are shown is just the same low budget battle shown in different lighting, with different city names but the same bad guys, and with snow thrown in once.

The special effects were comparable to the "legend of the seeker" series. Good for TV, bad for the big screen.

The actors where OK, nothing really to blame on them.

The dialogue wasn't horrible but the fact that it jumped from "well site and drink at the table of my for-bearers" to "let's kill this (female dog)" just didn't work! Please pick a linguistic style and stick to it. Ron Perlman was speaking like hamlet one minute and Hellboy the next.

The photography was well... bad. as in dark, grainy, who fogged the movie screen bad.

The ending is fairly predictable and the only reason I saw the end is because my wife said she was liking it when I asked here about 20 minutes in. If not I would have left and asked for my money back.

Season of the Witch fmovies. This thrilling film deals with 14th-century knights who transport a suspected witch to a monastery, where monks deduce her powers could be the source of the Black Plague which spreads death across the lands and villages , decimating life across Europa . Set during the time of the first outbreak of bubonic plague , a warrior is tasked with learning the truth about his fate as he is charged in leading a fearsome witch , as Beheman and his group of mercenaries have to go a remote location. It's an exciting story plenty of battles , action and excitement . The scenery is beautiful, and so was the cinematography . The music was great. The acting and directing was acceptable . A beleaguered church ruled by Cardinal D'Ambrosio (Christopher Lee), deeming sorcery the culprit of the plague, commands the two knights named Beheman (Nicolas Cage) and Felson (Ron Perlman) to transport an accused witch (Claire Fay) to a remote abbey, where monks will perform a ritual in hopes of ending the pestilence. A priest, a grieving knight (Ulrich Thomsen), a disgraced itinerant and a headstrong youth (Robert Sheehan) who can only dream of becoming a knight join a mission troubled by mythically hostile wilderness and fierce contention over the fate of the girl. The group must fight mysterious creatures for consuming every living thing in their path . Eventually surrounded by the frightening and ferocious foes, they must conquer his personal fears and help battle the illusive invaders who emerge out of the shroud of fog in the black of the night. When the embattled party arrives at the abbey, a horrific discovery jeopardises the knight's pledge to ensure the girl fair treatment, and pits them against an inexplicably powerful and destructive force .

This sword and witchery epic movie begins with a real sense of wonder and surprise with impressive battles set in Crusades and wind up with continuous struggles against weird beings . The picture packs great loads of action , special effects abundant , horror, breathtaking combats and a little bit of gore and blood . Stunning battles scenes illuminate the full-blown adventure with a plethora of engaging action set pieces on the combats in which the heads and limbs are slice off here and there and everywhere while other parts of body are slit open . The film gets an impressive control of the crowd scenarios with a climatic and overwhelming finale battle . Exceptional and colorfully cinematography is shot on location in outdoors from Hungary , Salzsburgo , Innsbruck , Tyrol, Austria , Croatia and Shreveport , Louisiana . The camera work by Amir Mokri in this film is dangerous and thrilling . Our perspective is intimate and that lends a great deal of excitement to the movie experience . Beautiful scenery, tense and bloody battles and a claustrophobic climax in a castle lift this story . Musical score by Orvasson is evocative and spectacular . There's something for everyone here ; fans of horror, fans of action, fans of medieval adventure should all find something to enjoy about this film . It may not be the best film ever made, but its still one passable movie. The motion picture is professionally directed by Dominic Sena who has got a career full of hits as ¨60 seconds¨ , ¨Operation Swordfish¨ , ¨California¨ but also some failure as ¨Whiteout¨ . Rating : Acceptable and entertaining film that will appeal to Nicolas Cage fans .

The movie was entertaining. I thought the acting of Cage and Perlman specifically and a few of the others was not up to par. If you do a period piece you should act and sound like it rather than sound like you are just hanging out in LA. The casting could have been better. I really enjoy all things medieval. The plot was good, the scenery was great. All in all it was a good way to spend a few hours. To all the Cage fans - I generally enjoy him, I just don't feel that he and this part were meant to be. During some parts of the film, the acting was actually rather comical although I don't believe it was meant to be so. If you like period piece, especially those set during medieval times, you won't be disappointed.

I walked out of the theater so thrilled to have spent my money on a Nicholas Cage movie. Its not often that happens.

I heard from a unenthusiastic review (one of numerous scathing reviews out there, as anyone with the internet can tell) about the on screen shenanigans with Nick Cage and Ron Perlman were so enjoyable that it made the rest of the movie bearable. Going in with that anticipation, I found myself not only pulled into their characters' fun and convincing friendship but also into an intense and yes even edge-of-your-seat suspenseful movie. I forgot about my troubles for the day and enjoyed a good adventure.

It was inspired, yes, by DnD, video games, and a number of other swords and sorcery books and movies that preceded it, but it is its own story. In a market saturated with sequels, prequels, reboots, comicbook diarrhea, etc... it's nice to see a story that is it's own, however simple.

Yes it plays by the numbers. You know guys will die. Hell, you probably know who and in what order, if you've seen movies of it's ilk. You know there is a supernatural bad guy. And you know there will be one liners, oh are there ever one-liners! But the characters are fun to watch, even a little engaging. You may not want to see them die. I didn't. They weren't a group of scum with a bullseye for heraldry. The enemy was threatening and tricky, a real danger to our protagonists. And the one liners were, gasp, funny! Yes, even Nicholas Cage is worth the price of admission here. If this was "just another paycheck" role for him, he looked like he was having a lot of fun with this roll. And I don't know about you, but I like to see my actors have fun in a movie that costs me 9-12 bucks to see..

It looses some points with me for the CGI. obvious CGI is obvious. But honestly the crispy gray CGI contrasting against a darker, colorful, moody lighting STILL didn't detract from the encounters or the climax. If you come to the movies to have CGI convince you that magic and demons are real, you come to the movies for jaded and asinine reasons. If you wanna see pretty visuals with a meandering pointless story, go see Tron.

But if you wanna see a fun yet dark heroic adventure, go see Season of the Witch!