Season of the Witch

Dominic Sena didn't disappoint, directing a European medieval film in the quintessential American way, throwing authenticity out the window. I half-expected Nicholas Cage to dazzle the enemy in the decisive moment of the final duel by whipping out a lightsaber, but alas, he didn't, needlessly disrupting an otherwise smooth flow of various nonsense. It was genuinely terrible, from the initial departure from the army to the final CGI mess, but I'll begrudgingly leave one star because I was decently entertained and had a good laugh at times. So what if it was unintended? I can laugh whenever I want. But seriously, it felt like a parody (blocking arrows with a sword at a distance of five meters, the cardinal dying of plague was clearly in the third stage of syphilis, etc.). Oh well. / Lesson learned: If a film character starts planning a bright future, it's time to bid them farewell. R.I.P. (07/19/2022)

I almost felt bad at having fun at the expense of a cripple and that I would have bad karma. Season of the Witch is an utterly dysfunctional film; nonsense on top of nonsense, but what else can we expect from historical fantasy, director Dominic Sena and Nic Cage, who in the last years has made one crap after another (with a couple of exceptions)? This digital wannabe darkness didn’t work on me at all. (03/13/2011)

If I overlook the really poorly done battle at the beginning, I'm willing to call this movie mediocre. I'm happy with the mystery and overall atmosphere. Except that the script was a bit off. I was bored for a while. Then I couldn't stop gaping at what a person is capable of coming up with when they can't think of what’s next. The ending couldn't be taken too seriously after that performance. I feel like the creators overestimated themselves. A weaker 3 stars. (09/09/2011)

Excellent visuals and a very likeable cast. The wisecracking Perlman is second to none, Cage's leading moral role fits well in this case, and Robert Sheehan shows he can play something other than the total moron in Misfits. I honestly wasn't expecting anything at all and ended up being pleasantly surprised. Dominic Sena is obviously not any miracle as a director, but in this case he’s outdone himself and managed to create some great scenes and evoke a decent period atmosphere. The story is linear and predictable, but by no means boring, and with its appealing running time, it slips by like water. One of the better B-movies of 2011, and a really great diversion on a decent level. (12/30/2011)

A decent film beyond expectations, which mostly lacks funding and the epicness that comes with it. The actors were good (I keep telling you, don't write off Cage), the music was good, some scenes (the opening, the wolves) were almost perfect, the final digi looked better than Solomon Kane's, and I was pleased with "his" likeness, which seemed to come out of period drawings. The screenplay benefited nicely from the interplay between Cage and Perlman, who were given the right “guy" lines, but otherwise it was an unremarkable ordinary fantasy road movie that ran out of steam towards the end. I also give three and a half stars for Christopher Lee's bark. (06/06/2011)