SEASON OF THE WITCH (Dominic Sena). 94 minutes. Opens Friday (January 7). For movie times, theatres, and trailers see Movies. Rating: N
It’s amazing how little entertainment value there is in watching Nicolas Cage and Ron Perlman play world-weary Crusaders in a movie called Season Of The Witch. Come on! It’s Ghost Rider and Hellboy!
But Cage and Perlman have very different movies in their heads. Perlman rolls out a charismatic sidekick turn worthy of a really good episode of Hercules or Xena, while Cage takes everything very, very seriously – even when he’s battling zombie monks or flesh-eating wolves lifted from a Resident Evil sequel.
Turgid and cheap-looking, with a grotty visual aesthetic reminiscent of the Tombs Of The Blind Dead movies, Season Of The Witch is one dull slog through a series of medieval clichés. Cage and Perlman are conscripted to deliver a young woman (Claire Foy) accused of witchcraft to trial at a remote abbey, where a shocking revelation lies in wait… along with the picture’s effects budget.
Dominic Sena, who directed Cage in Gone In Sixty Seconds a decade ago, seems asleep at the helm, letting scenes drag on lifelessly and allowing the tension to drain out of a couple of potentially suspenseful sequences.
There aren’t many movies that could be improved by giving them to Uwe Boll, but this might qualify. Imagine what he might have got out of his star.
