Season of the Witch was one of those movies that I was very much on the fence upon seeing the first trailer on how interested I was in seeing it. While I am a big fan of movie that take place in the middle ages and deal with knights and mystical magic and such, the trailer had a feel that I was not sure about if it would be the knight type adventure/quest movie that I enjoy. Season of the Witch is a journey film that deals with a couple of knights and the task they have undertaken to help a town infected with the plague by taking a witch, who confessed to giving the town this curse, to a monastery with monks who can deduce the source of her power.
Nicholas Cage stars as Behmen, a knight from the Crusades, who has become disillusioned with the Church's senseless killing in the name of God in the Middle East. Cage gives his usual type of performance and he always seems to do a great job at passing off to the audience at being very believable at whoever he is portraying. This believability into his role of the knight and the true emotion that one struggles with after having killed, is a strong showing of the amount of preparation that Cage puts into a role. Cage also shows this preparation with his not only handling of a sword but his ability to fight with a sword as well. Cage even though he does have a tendency to play characters in a way that they all seem to be half a second away from being insane it makes his portrayals memorable and I think only strengthens his acting particularly in this movie. Starring along Cage is Ron Pearlman as Felson, Behmen's trusted friend who has become disillusioned as well with the Church and the killing in the name of God. Pearlman has the part of the duo in being the strong, competitive knight that also brings in some comedic relief from time to time as well. Pearlman plays this role well and his chemistry with Cage really gives you the feeling that the two of them have been through a lot together and these experiences have bonded them in ways that most do not survive through. The supporting cast is very minimal and while the rest of the group transporting the witch are onscreen most of the time we do not get more depth of what makes them who thy are as well as the witch. With the witch Cage's character has pity on her yet as the audience we are not given truly enough to care more for wanting to understand more fully why he has this pity on her.
Anyone that saw the trailer and the movie would realize that the trailer is anything but a good interpretation of what the movie is truly about. While the general plot and story were not earth shatteringly new, I though it was a good story that had an intriguing magic/witch aspect to it. It was definitely a nice twist as the climax approached and I thought it would turn out one way only to give a completely unexpected reveal. It is always a great aspect for a movie when they do a twist in a way that you are thinking one way the entire time only to change your thoughts on how it will all turn out at the last possible second. To go along with the good storyline is that of the action sequences. Enjoyable action sequences are really the parts that can make or break a movie like Season of the Witch. I really enjoyed the sword fighting that took place throughout the movie. One of my favorite parts of action took place when the group is attacked by a plethora of wolves. During the attack Behmen is being attacked nearly simultaneously by a wolf in front and one from behind. So he slashes the one in front of him and then spins the sword into a backward stab without looking to get the wolf that was coming at him from behind.
Season of the Witch is a movie that ends up being not exactly what it seems. I really enjoyed the action sequences throughout the movie and they all flowed perfectly within the story. Season of the Witch was a good movie that had plenty of sword fighting, knights and even some weird magic. The acting by everyone was very believable and did a strong job at portraying the emotion that one would have definitely felt during those times with a plague spreading. I am giving Season of the Witch three buckets of popcorn out of five. This movie was well worth the price of renting and is a fun enjoyable movie that you can sit back and relax.
-The Movie Man
I too enjoyed this film, surprisingly. If it hadn't been on Netflix watch instantly when I was home sick, I probably never would have seen it. I don't think Cage is an especially good actor, but I like him anyway. He's a good action star. I liked how you could never quite tell through most of the movie if the girl was a witch or not. Plenty of evidence was given to support either theory. As long as you're expecting to see a good action flick, you'll like this film. Although at least one of the main characters dies at the end, it does have what I consider a happy ending. PS the altar-boy-turned-knight's-apprentice stole a bit of the show.
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