Dog Soldiers, Centurion, The Descent ... all good movies and now The Reckoning, where somehow the wheels have fallen off the billy cart. The Reckoning is a movie with a good idea, which hasn't arrived at fruition, through poor script - writing and direction.
It's pretty much an update of the old (1968) Vincent Price vehicle Witchfinder - General. And it's probably not a bad idea, in an era of female empowerment, to reconfigure a story of idiot blokes running around the English countryside, burning women to death on the slightest pretext, or hearsay, of being a witch. But the whole thing is put together sloppily and haphazardly, ending up in a film that just can't seem to settle on what direction it wants to take. Even the DVD cover is confusing, with its artwork identifying our hero Grace Haversack, as a witch. It's not spoiling to state here, she ain't. But then lazy writing, especially throughout the second act, suggests hilariously and confusingly that torture and deprivation might cause our Grace to dream and imagine she becomes the devil's spawn. For goodness sake! It's like the writers are seeking to grab any reason to strengthen the case of our two prime villains Witchfinder Moorcroft and the slimy Squire Pendleton.
The film which was shot in Hungary, actually looks pretty good. I agree with many others that Charlotte Kirk playing Grace looks too glamorous, but then I really don't mind a bit of eye candy in movies and she does put in a reasonable performance. I have more concerns as to how suddenly, in the final act, after being so hideously and cruelly tortured, she suddenly overcomes her physical disabilities and evolves into a Middle Ages version of Lara Croft to ensure we end up with the titular Reckoning. Really? And the whole big deal of The Plague, as focused on in the first act, seems to be forgotten about and just used as a narrative convenience to ensure we are delivered an action - packed climax.
Overall, I felt rather disappointed that someone like Neil Marshall, who has directed films with strong female characters, in reimagining a film set in a period of institutionalised misogyny and the women who survive it, could only come up with the sort of confused ideas and storyline, The Reckoning delivers.
It's pretty much an update of the old (1968) Vincent Price vehicle Witchfinder - General. And it's probably not a bad idea, in an era of female empowerment, to reconfigure a story of idiot blokes running around the English countryside, burning women to death on the slightest pretext, or hearsay, of being a witch. But the whole thing is put together sloppily and haphazardly, ending up in a film that just can't seem to settle on what direction it wants to take. Even the DVD cover is confusing, with its artwork identifying our hero Grace Haversack, as a witch. It's not spoiling to state here, she ain't. But then lazy writing, especially throughout the second act, suggests hilariously and confusingly that torture and deprivation might cause our Grace to dream and imagine she becomes the devil's spawn. For goodness sake! It's like the writers are seeking to grab any reason to strengthen the case of our two prime villains Witchfinder Moorcroft and the slimy Squire Pendleton.
The film which was shot in Hungary, actually looks pretty good. I agree with many others that Charlotte Kirk playing Grace looks too glamorous, but then I really don't mind a bit of eye candy in movies and she does put in a reasonable performance. I have more concerns as to how suddenly, in the final act, after being so hideously and cruelly tortured, she suddenly overcomes her physical disabilities and evolves into a Middle Ages version of Lara Croft to ensure we end up with the titular Reckoning. Really? And the whole big deal of The Plague, as focused on in the first act, seems to be forgotten about and just used as a narrative convenience to ensure we are delivered an action - packed climax.
Overall, I felt rather disappointed that someone like Neil Marshall, who has directed films with strong female characters, in reimagining a film set in a period of institutionalised misogyny and the women who survive it, could only come up with the sort of confused ideas and storyline, The Reckoning delivers.