by Robert Scocchi
| Published
Once again, Rotten Tomatoes has led me astray and turned me away from Nicolas Cage Season of the witch — the dark, supernatural fantasy adventure set during the Smyrniote Crusades — and deprived me of one of our actor's best films during a time when he was mostly offering straight-to-video content. Although this film is not Cage's finest hour (still waiting National Treasure 3 Here), it in no way deserves the 11 percent critical grade it currently has on the popular review aggregator.
My ego also swelled to the point of no return after watching Season of the witch Because my theory has been proven right once again: If you watch enough (allegedly) terrible movies, sometimes you get gold in the form of a fun movie with breakneck speed, frenetic action sequences, and snappy dialogue.
will Season of the witch Will it be remembered as one of the greatest films of our time? Absolutely not. But it's one of those rainy Sunday afternoon movies My neighbor This is definitely worth 95 minutes of your time.
A magical good time
Season of the witch Carried by Sir Behman von Bleibrook (Nicolas Cage) and Ser Felson (Ron Perlman), two knights who suffered their share of carnage during their time serving in the Smyrniot Crusades in the 14th century. Disgusted by widespread acts of violence in the name of God against all nonbelievers (including innocent women and children), Bahman and Felson decided to abandon their mission and turn away from the violence that had defined most of their adult lives. Bahman and Felson are eventually exposed as fugitives while traveling through a plague-infested region of Styria, and are tasked by an ailing Cardinal d'Ambroise (Christopher Lee) to transport an alleged witch named Anna (Claire Foy) to a group of monks in a remote monastery to receive a fair trial.
Refusing the mission means imprisonment and eventual death by hanging or burning (Felson prefers quick hanging if given the luxury of choosing his method of death), but the Knights will receive a full pardon if they agree to traverse the Dark Forest and make good on the surrender.
He is joined by the priest Debelzac (Stephen Campbell Moore), Cardinal's guard Johan (Ulrich Thomsen), a map expert and con man named Hagamar (Stephen Graham), and an alternative boy with knightly aspirations known as Kai von Wollenpart (Robert Sheehan), Behmen. Felson set out to find the monastery. Cardinal d'Ambroise believes that Anna is responsible for the spread of the Black Death in Europe Season of the witchAnd he has reason to believe that the monastery holds the key to stopping the Death Plague in its tracks.
The cop's friends joked for days
having a little bit of an identity crisis, Season of the witch It plays more like a buddy cop movie than an epic fantasy adventure movie. Not only do Behmen and Felson pull off the moves as reluctantly as you might think, but they appear to be having the time of their lives as they traverse the treacherous wilderness and transport Anna to her trial and possible execution. As war buddies during the epic battle montage in the film's introduction, they're both so desensitized to the violence that they crack jokes like old college roommates on stag night.
While they take their mission seriously, they certainly blow the whistle as they work to break the drudgery, giving this film a level of charm I wasn't expecting.
Season of the witch He sets this dynamic between Behmen and Felson right during the opening battle sequence, which reminds me of the warpath in the Wolfgang Petersen-directed film starring Brad Pitt. Troy. Before taking to the hills to put hundreds of men to the sword, Bahman and Felson first debated who would be the hero of the day and who would buy rounds of beer and sourdough after a well-fought battle. Against the depressing theme at the heart Season of the witchAnd I appreciate how much humor breaks the tension when things start getting serious.
Don't let the cynical critics fool you
Ultimately, all I want from my media consumption is to be me Amusedand Season of the witch Uncheck all the boxes on my “send it to my eyeball” bingo card. Between the epic battles, the enchanted wolves roaming through the dark forest, and the endless chemistry between Cage and Perlman, you'd be hard-pressed to find a black plague movie that's as entertaining as this one.
If you don't believe me, consider this:
1980s Xanadu It currently has a critical grade of 31 percent Rotten tomatoeswhich is a much higher degree than Season of the witch. At least the final title actually has some semblance of a plot, and there's not a single example of a disco song and dance routine in place of storytelling. certainly, Season of the witch It has a disappointing lack of Kublai Khan's entertainment dome, but I'm willing to stick up my neck and say that's probably for the best.
As of this writing, you can stream Season of the witch Free on Tubi
