Released: August 2012(United States)
Director: M.J. Bassett(As Michael J. Bassett)
Rated R
Run Time: 104 Minutes
Distributor: Anchor Bay
Genre: Action/Fantasy
Cast:
James Purefoy: Solomon Kane
Max Von Sydow: Josiah Kane
Rachel Hurd-Wood: Meredith Crawthorn
Pete Postlethwaite: William Crawthorn
Conan: The Barbarian is widely regarded as one of the best fantasy films of the 80s, and why not? It was an epic revenge story starring Arnold Schwarzenegger that put him on the map. It also a great cast including Sandahl Bergman in her first real role as Valeria; Max Von Sydow as King Osric, and the legendary James Earl Jones as the iconic Thulsa Doom. Arnold would go on to star in movies like The Terminator, which was his next project. There are die-hard fans of Robert E. Howard’s original stories that don’t care for the movie, because it wasn’t in line with who and what the wanted the Cimmerian to be. Still, the movie got a sequel, The Destroyer, and a television series as well as multiple comic book adaptations through Marvel, and a reboot starring Jason Momoa. But Conan wasn’t the only character that was the creation of Howard’s. He created other characters like Kull(who also got a movie starring Kevin Sorbo). But for this review, I’m tackling Solomon Kane.
Solomon Kane begins in the year 1600, when privateer captain Solomon Kane lays siege to an Ottoman fortress. Killing his way to the throne room, he encounters the Devil’s Reaper, who has come to claim his soul for all the evil that he’s committed. Escaping the demon, Kane ends up at a monastery, swearing off his life of violence for a more peaceful existence. A year later, he’s forced to leave to find his own way to redemption when he crosses paths with a Puritan family, the Crawthorns, a kindly family on their way to the New World. One night, they are attacked and the young woman, Meredith is kidnapped. Forced to return to violence, Kane hunts and kills his way through the countryside to find and rescue Meredith, not realizing there are more sinister forces at work. This is actually a very interesting origin story for one of Howard’s more obscure “heroes.” I’ve read a bunch of the short stories, and there really isn’t a whole lot of exploration of Kane’s past. You get a few hints here and there that he committed some horrendous acts of violence, and is searching for some kind of redemption by fighting evil, but that’s it. What this movie does, and I love it for this, is that it doesn’t directly adapt anything from the stories, does its own thing, but it remains mostly faithful to Howard’s vision. At least, in my opinion. It’s a surprisingly good story.
Before I go any further, I want to discuss the film’s release. The movie was completed in 2008 and was released world-wide in 2009…except for North America, due to legal reasons. It would eventually get released on DVD and Blu-Ray in 2012. I don’t know the ins and outs of what the legal issues where that prevented the film’s release in North America, but I can tell you this: Solomon Kane needed a theatrical release. In my opinion, it’s the best adaptation of a Robert E. Howard character since the original Conan. First off, let’s talk about the casting: Absolutely phenomenal. James Purefoy as Kane is one of the best castings of the last 20 years. He has the look, the charisma, and the physicality to bring The Puritan to life. Pete Postlethwaite plays William Crawthorn, the patriarch of a West-bound family. He’s got this warmth and gravitas that just permeates the screen every second that he’s in front of the camera. Alice Krige is also really good, despite her limited run time. Max Von Sydow brings some real legitimacy as Josiah, Solomon’s father. It kind of makes sense to cast HIM, because he was in Conan: The Barbarian. Seriously, though, Sydow could do no wrong. He was one of the great actors of his generation. Again, not much screen time, but the man had presence. The acting overall, is pretty good, but there really isn’t much character development aside from Kane.
This movie is beautifully shot. It’s beautifully ugly, I should say. The cinematography is great, but the world of Solomon Kane isn’t exactly sunflowers and dandelions. No, this is a very dark world that’s suffering through disease and bandits and demonic forces. So, the color palate is very…subdued and grey. It’s also very wet and muddy. It’s an ugly reality that Kane inhabits. You could definitely tell that this was not an easy shoot. The action sequences are not just competent, but they’re actually really solid, especially the opening siege as well as Kane’s slaughtering of the bandits that kidnapped Meredith. The sword-fighting, while not as memorable as something like The Mask of Zorro, is well-staged, with Kane using a rapier, a dirk, and two flintlock pistols. There is definitely CGI used in the movie, and it’s not particularly great, but it gets the job done, but for the most part, it’s all done for real. The stunt-work is phenomenal with Purefoy doing a lot of his stunts and fighting. It’s a fairly exciting movie to watch, but the tone is definitely very serious and dark, and that’s just not going to work for a lot of people. I love the hell out of it, though.
It’s hard to judge how well Solomon Kane should’ve done, because it’s based on a character that the audience member has no idea exists. For Robert E. Howard fans, it was either a joy to see this character brought to life, or it was an abomination. But the overall reaction to the film was surprisingly not overly negative. It wasn’t going to win awards or anything, but there were a number of outlets that actually enjoyed the film. It’s flawed, to be sure, but I think this movie could’ve done better with better marketing and an actual release in North America when it was first released. When I first heard of the movie, I was excited, but I wasn’t able to see the film until it Blu-Ray 4 years later. It’s a solid action adventure film with really strong performances from most of its cast, and decent action sequences that rival some of the stuff that we see today. Also, the music by Klaus Badelt is pretty epic. If you liked Conan: The Barbarian, you might actually find something here to enjoy. It’s not the best movie of its kind, but I think it’s good enough on its own merits. Highly recommended.