Review: Solomon Kane

Set in the early 1600s, Solomon Kane (James Purefoy) is a pirate mercenary in the middle of a raid in Africa, but runs afoul of the Devil’s Reaper (Ian Whyte), who wants to claim his damned soul. But Solomon manages to escape, and we pick up a year later, with Solomon seemingly a changed man working towards redemption, though still plagued by his decision to abandon his father (Max von Sydow) as a wayward young man. He ends up accompanying pious Pete Postlethwaite and his family (including Alice Krige and Rachel Hurd-Wood), before they are attacked. Solomon has sworn to a life of non-violence, but an act of the most shocking evil, Solomon knows he must take to violence once more, even if it means damnation for his soul. He must thwart the evil, masked Overlord (Sam Roukin), though he is merely the servant of sorcerer Malachi (Jason Flemyng). Along the way he reunites with his elderly father, who delivers some (not-so) shocking news about The Overlord’s true identity. Mackenzie Crook turns up briefly as a slightly odd priest.

 

Stylish, but slow-moving 2009 (though filmed much earlier, and only released in Australia in 2010) adaptation of short stories from the popular Robert E. Howard (“Conan the Barbarian”, “Red Sonja”, “Kull the Conqueror”). Written and directed by Michael J. Bassett (the underrated UK survival action/drama “Wilderness”), it’s never quite as exciting as you want it to be, with James Purefoy lacking the necessary charisma, acting chops, and gravitas in the lead. The character is fascinatingly tortured and solemn, but Purefoy plays him in singularly uninteresting fashion. I mean, this guy shows Jesus was a bit of a pussy, he doesn’t need a magic show to survive crucifixion, pulling himself off the nailed cross! Take that, Jesus! But Purefoy is just…kinda there. He never really puts his stamp on it or sells any of it in interesting fashion. I know Viggo Mortensen can’t play every stoic fantasy hero role, but it just goes to show how bloody fantastic he was in the “Lord of the Rings” films, he would’ve been a perfect Solomon Kane. I guess one can be thankful that Christopher Lambert didn’t play the role, perhaps (Indeed, he was interested in it at one point. Crisis averted there!).

 

It seriously perks up in the last 10-15 minutes with an enjoyable climax being by far the best part of the film. It’s a shame that Jason Flemyng’s highly entertaining villainy is confined solely to this final stretch. The opening scene is good fun too, I mean the Devil’s Reaper has a flaming sword for cryin’ out loud. A flaming sword! Perfectly cast pros Max von Sydow, Alice Krige, and especially the late (and very sorely missed) Pete Postlethwaite help make up for Purefoy’s slack somewhat, as does the director’s visual style.

 

The snowy Czech scenery and cinematography by Dan Laustsen (who lensed the terrific genre-hopper “Brotherhood of the Wolf”) are stupendously impressive, I must say. But this pulpy fantasy-action stuff is played out a bit too sluggishly for my liking here. We only get to Solomon’s main quest after about 30 minutes or so. A mixture of “Pirates of the Caribbean”, “Shane”, “Ghost Rider” and the underrated “Season of the Witch” and “Jonah Hex”, it never quite delivers the goods. I bet Howard’s work is a helluva fun read, but the film is just a tad disappointing, despite some really interesting elements and a terrific premise.

 

I liked some of this very much (and brave is a film that will have its hero refuse to take violent action to save a child, and then the child is killed!), but Purefoy’s dull performance and Bassett’s poor sense of pacing hold one back from truly embracing it. Not bad (It’s better than Uwe Boll’s “In the Name of the King” for instance), not quite good. But bear in mind, I’m not a “Conan” fan either.

 

Rating: C+