Movie Review: Season of the Witch
- May 21
- 4 min read
Director: Dominic Sena (known for Gone in Sixty Seconds)
Producer: Charles Roven & Alex Gartner (known for City of Angels)
Script Writer: Bragi F. Schut
Film Composer: Atli Orvarsson
Actors: Nicolas Cage (known for National Treasure and Lord of War)
Ron Perlman (known for Hell Boy and Son's of Anarchy)
Claire Foy (first Block Buster Movie)
Christopher Lee ( The Lord of the Rings and Sleepy Hollow)
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Thriller
Plot Summary
A 14th century Crusader returns to a homeland devastated by the Black Plague. A beleaguered church, deeming sorcery the culprit of the plague, commands the two knights to transport an accused witch to a remote abbey, where monks will perform a ritual in hopes of ending the pestilence. A priest, a grieving knight, a disgraced itinerant and a headstrong youth who can only dream of becoming a knight join a mission troubled by mythically hostile wilderness and fierce contention over the fate of the girl. When the embattled party arrives at the abbey, a horrific discovery jeopardizes the knight's pledge to ensure the girl fair treatment, and pits them against an inexplicably powerful and destructive force. Written by Momentum Pictures
Browsing Netflix’s the other day I came across this movie. Now, I wasn’t that interested in this movie when it hit the theaters because I am very critical of Nicolas Cage movies. I have seen most of the movies he has ever been in and they are hit-n-miss. In my eyes the best movie he play’s is the Geeky Nerd Adventure because of his wit and sarcasm he brings to the screen. I have been proven wrong! This movie blew my socks off and I think it was totally underrated. I liked the movie so much I watched it again, as soon as it was done to see if I missed anything. From start to finish the movie had me going and I was shocked at every turn.
The movie starts off with two Teutonic Knights, Behmen (Nicolas Cage) and Felson (Ron Perlman) who are engaged in a crusade. They befriend each other while taking part in several different battles throughout the 1330s and eventually taking part in the Smyrniote Crusades. After witnessing the massacre of civilians during the 1344 capture of Smyrna, the two knights lose faith in the cause and decide to desert the crusades and go home. Traveling home they soon encounter traces of the plague. When they stop at a city to buy provisions they are discovered as deserters of the crusades and arrested. The Cardinal D'Ambroise (Christopher Lee), asks the knights to escort an alleged witch (Claire Foy) suspected of causing the plague to a remote monastery where an elite group of monks reside. These monks are capable of determining if the girl is truly a witch. The two knights agree under the condition that she will be given a fair trial and that the charges of desertion against them are dropped.
The Cinematography
The cinematography and direction was amazing!! The actions scenes felt very real like the director was really trying to capture the realization of what the crusades really where about and what a city infested of the plague looked like. The director really did his homework when figuring out his angle on how he wanted to shoot this film! My hat off to you Dominic Sena for a fantastic movie.
Costume and Set Design
The costume and set design was breath taking! It is so nice to see a movie that is actually shot on location and not in front of a green screen!! The movie was shot in New Zealand and Austria. The castles looked authentic, the mountains with their beautiful snow cap peaks where phenomenal and the forest put the icing on the cake with the eerie feeling it brought to the movie. The locations of the film where like characters themselves. The costumes were as authentic as you could get. No fancy frills for this movie. They did their best to create costumes of the most rustic kind to paint the picture of genuine REAL 1340’s Europe. I think the crew nailed it with the image they brought to the screen.
Script and Film Score
The script was great! You could tell by the script and the acting of the actors that they all felt very comfortable with their lines. The powerful monologues of the church and the easy banter of the characters where memorable even after the movie was done. The meaning behind the script is very powerful and will make you sit back and think. The because of the script, the cast worked well together. I was very shocked (in a very good way) with Nicolas Cage’s role!! He was awesome!!! I have definitely changed my mind about his acting. With the right role he nail’s it and in this movie he NAILED IT! Ron Perlman played his role perfect! With his character as the loyal friend he brought the comedic relief to a very serious situation. Christopher Lee, what can I say, you have never played a bad role! You are and will always be amazing. Claire Foy, as her first break out role in a major motion picture, WOW!!! You are a great actress!! We will be seeing amazing things from you in the future. Her role was the most difficult role to play in the whole movie and I don’t think another actress could have pulled off what she did. It took a lot of skill to pull off what you did with your scared innocence one second and in a blink of an eye you change to this scary evil thing you can’t describe!! Standing Ovation in your Honor for an AMAZING JOB CAST!!
Movie Review
Season of the Witch, you totally blew my mind away. I was not expecting to see such a wonderfully put together movie where everything (EVERYTHING) flowed just perfect. I truly regret not seeing this movie in the theatres but I was a fool for listening to people who saw it and snubbed their noses at it. For those who like Fantasy/Action movie this is one to see. I can’t wait to add this movie to my collection.
If I find out this was based off a book I am running out the door right now to buy it.
Memorable quote from the Movie: Felson: “I serve the Church no more.” [Felson laughs] Did you see the priest's face? Looked like someone pissed in his holy water.
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