I'm going to go against the grain here and say that I enjoyed Season of the Witch. It's not a great film by any means, but I found it very entertaining and a good distraction for 90 or so minutes.
Nicolas Cage stars as Behmen, a deserter of the Crusades who, along with his comrade, Felson (Ron Perlman) are tasked with escorting an imprisoned witch (Claire Foy) to a distant monastery for a trial. But Behmen is suspicious of whether or not the girl is, in fact, a witch. I won't give away any more of the plot, but expect some sword fights and near-misses thrown in to keep you entertained. The story is probably the best thing going for the film, as the premise is one I've never encountered before in my moviegoing.
Cage, for what seems the first time in a long while, is actually giving a relatively subdued performance. As soon as I saw him with his goofy-looking long hair, I thought it was going to go downhill, but I was pleasantly surprised. Perlman plays his usual snarky persona, occasionally dropping some groan-inducing one-liners, but is otherwise fun to watch. Claire Foy is the one who's performance stands out here, leading us along with Behmen to question whether or not she's in league with the Devil.
The production values are impressive, with great photography by Amir Mokri and Carlo Poggioli provided his talents as costume designer. The special effects, while not on par with more recent releases such as Tron: Legacy , don't distract you from enjoying the film.
The biggest disappointment is the film's score. I've never heard of Atli Orvarsson, and this film shows me why. At no point in the movie is there any piece that sticks out in my head. It's like the producers just decided to hire someone to write music cues and nothing else.
All in all, not a great movie, but an entertaining one. Worth a rental and that's about it. See it for the concept, as it's one of the few high-concept movies out right now that isn't a remake/sequel/prequel/adaptation.
SCORE: 2 1/2 out of 5
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