Dominic Sena repeats what he did with 2001's Swordfish in this Dark Ages Sword and Sorcery tale of woe.
We begin thinking that this is strictly about the age of Unreason where women were killed by the thousands accused of witchcraft.
But in fact, it is not about that at all, but the underlying story of a girl being toted to a town where she could be tried as a witch, is just the mechanism with which Sena gets us to the final act of the film.
So think Ghost Rider/Knowing's Nick Cage and Hellboy's Ron Pearlman as they first desert a church-sanctioned army after years of slaughtering innocents, they finally have had enough and begin to question what they are doing. But they are caught in a town which they cannot ride past, as they have farm horses- They are recognized as Deserters and arrested, but then they are immediately recruited by the church to bring a girl accused of witchcraft and starting the Black Plague to the Abbey of Severac so they can try her and recite incantations over her from the Book of Solomon. At first this sounds simple, they recruit a man who was caught selling fake relics, Hagamar played by Stephen Graham (Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides). He is the only one who knows the quickest route to The Abbey. Along with them go a priest (Nicholas Sidi) and another Knight (Ulrik Thomsen) - And in short order they are joined by an Altar-Boy who wants to be a Knight, Robert Sheehan as Kay Von Wollenbarth.
So, the gang is all here and so they go forth on their unexpected journey. Needless to say, they are killed off one by one by a series of various unfortunate events.
Until all that are left are the Cage and Pearlman, Sheehan, and the priest.
The thing I liked was the character development and the interaction between Cage and Pearlman is as expected. Also that things are not as they seem: Initially we think that the priest traveling with them is someone who enjoys killing women just to flaunt his authority, but this is not the case at all. We are buffeted with conflicting information regarding the characters of both the Girl being transported (Claire Foy as Anna) and the priest. Which one is lying, which one is telling the truth? Eventually we find out but not before the bloodshed starts.
But it is not as simple as bringing a girl to an abbey and see if the Monks burn her at the stake. This girl is extraordinary. Is she really a witch, or is she faking it or maybe mentally ill?
But "Nothing is as it seems" even in this simple movie. For this reason, I give it a high rating, just for the twists I was not expecting, also Sena is a very visual director and he does not lag with this effort.
I'm surprised this film was nominated for two razzies, in a way I can understand why it did not go over well, but this is the kind of movie I like. The main characters chase after one thing, only to find they need to be very worried about something else. It's Fringe Division in the Dark Ages.
We begin thinking that this is strictly about the age of Unreason where women were killed by the thousands accused of witchcraft.
But in fact, it is not about that at all, but the underlying story of a girl being toted to a town where she could be tried as a witch, is just the mechanism with which Sena gets us to the final act of the film.
So think Ghost Rider/Knowing's Nick Cage and Hellboy's Ron Pearlman as they first desert a church-sanctioned army after years of slaughtering innocents, they finally have had enough and begin to question what they are doing. But they are caught in a town which they cannot ride past, as they have farm horses- They are recognized as Deserters and arrested, but then they are immediately recruited by the church to bring a girl accused of witchcraft and starting the Black Plague to the Abbey of Severac so they can try her and recite incantations over her from the Book of Solomon. At first this sounds simple, they recruit a man who was caught selling fake relics, Hagamar played by Stephen Graham (Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides). He is the only one who knows the quickest route to The Abbey. Along with them go a priest (Nicholas Sidi) and another Knight (Ulrik Thomsen) - And in short order they are joined by an Altar-Boy who wants to be a Knight, Robert Sheehan as Kay Von Wollenbarth.
So, the gang is all here and so they go forth on their unexpected journey. Needless to say, they are killed off one by one by a series of various unfortunate events.
Until all that are left are the Cage and Pearlman, Sheehan, and the priest.
The thing I liked was the character development and the interaction between Cage and Pearlman is as expected. Also that things are not as they seem: Initially we think that the priest traveling with them is someone who enjoys killing women just to flaunt his authority, but this is not the case at all. We are buffeted with conflicting information regarding the characters of both the Girl being transported (Claire Foy as Anna) and the priest. Which one is lying, which one is telling the truth? Eventually we find out but not before the bloodshed starts.
But it is not as simple as bringing a girl to an abbey and see if the Monks burn her at the stake. This girl is extraordinary. Is she really a witch, or is she faking it or maybe mentally ill?
But "Nothing is as it seems" even in this simple movie. For this reason, I give it a high rating, just for the twists I was not expecting, also Sena is a very visual director and he does not lag with this effort.
I'm surprised this film was nominated for two razzies, in a way I can understand why it did not go over well, but this is the kind of movie I like. The main characters chase after one thing, only to find they need to be very worried about something else. It's Fringe Division in the Dark Ages.