SOLOMON KANE

I had wanted to see Solomon Kane because I read that it was a bit like Krull!; and true enough I could see some similarities in a bunch of no-mark British actors stomping through a fairly predictable sword and sorcery plot against some black pupil-ed villans! Although that makes it sound like I didn’t enjoy it, when in actual fact it was rather entertaining. Drawing inspiration from Hammer Horror, set in a frosty, pea soup England and starring James Purefoy in the title role of repentant devil Solomon Kane - looking more than a little bit like a limey Hugh Jackman from Van Helsing, as he stomps around with long hippy hair, jet black cape and a wide brimmed hat.

Based on Robert E. Howard (creator of Conan The Barbarian – thank you very much Wikipedia!) ’s pulp novels, Solomon Kane is a formerly violent and evil man, seeking redemption for his sins having discovered his soul – promised to the Devil – is damned. Choosing a non violent path to penitence, Solomon is befriended by an emigrating family, but slowly drawn back to his violent days of old as Meredith, the daughter of the family is kidnapped by the forces of the evil Sauroman-lite sorcerer Malachi!

Solomon Kane is a pretty well made, enjoyable fantasy movie with some nice special effects and a cracking opening sequence in medieval North Africa. Despite a fairly generic plot it remained heartily entertaining and served up one or two unexpectedly pleasing moments of darkness.

In the minor complaint dept. I felt the hunting montage as Solomon goes after Malachi’s forces was a little cack handed. It was a little too muddled and didn’t give the feeling of passing time. One of the Devils Creatures was also a little to close in design to LOTR’s Balrog mixed with the Golden Army from Hellboy 2. Additionally after Solomon tooled up and hit the road I was left wondering where he got his pair of pistols from?!

Performance wise it featured the ever reliable Pete Postlethwaite, of whom I have been a big fan of ever since his sterling turn as the slimy Obadiah in the Sharpe series! He played the father of the emigrating family who take in Solomon, and he is great value as always.

Max Von Sydow elevates the proceedings with a small-ish role as Solomon’s father, and for fellow Star Trek nerds like me it was cool to see Borg Queen Alice Krige playing the mother of the family.

The denouement was pretty much as predictable as they come and easily guessed, but that’s not such a bad thing in a flick like this. On the plus side I found it very entertaining to be watching a largely British fantasy movie, set in a World of demons and magic, doing its own thing; and it felt like perhaps Krull isn’t too bad of a comparison. I also thought it nodded its stove pipe hat toward Lord Of The Rings and maybe even Willow on occasion!

There’s overtly a bit of Hammer Horror in there and although it’s not perfect – a little light in the plot department, and I felt perhaps Solomon Kane was a little bereft of the necessary gravitas – it was a largely enjoyable watch, and as far as recent movies in this genre go, it was waaaaay better than the Clash Of The Titans remake! Let’s have a sequel please!

IMDB: Solomon Kane


Subsequent to my writing this review (which I penned back in December), the sad news arrived regarding the passing away of Pete Postlethwaite. As noted above, I was a fan, and so it would be remiss not mention how great of an actor he was. Whether he was Sharpe’s arch nemesis, playing The Usual Suspects for saps, hunting dinosaurs in The Lost World, or slumming it in Clash Of The Titans he was always a reliably great presence. One of my favourite roles, like many folk I’m sure, was in Brassed Off – a wonderful film and no mistake. One other thing is resolutely certain – cinema is far, far poorer without Pete Postlethwaite. R.I.P.