Henry Saw: Solomon Kane

Guilty Pleasure (via Urban Dictionary): n.
to describe a certain substance or activity a person enjoys, and often practices, while said person morally believed or is informed that the substance or activity is abnormal, improper or incorrect.

I just enjoyed the movie Solomon Kane


Solomon Kane is a bad, bad movie. The effects are...Sci-Fi channel at best. The acting, despite the always reliable Pete Postlethwaite and Max Von Sydow, is poor. The plot is on the level of Mortal Kombat 2. But I kind of liked the movie.

Well, I really liked it.

We open with an awful, if well choreographed, action scene involving our "hero" Solomon Kane. There's a lot of stabbing, some dead Asians, some kind of mystical stuff...I honestly didn't understand a thing. But I was entertained; and totally got the set-up: Solomon Kane is an English explorer who is doomed to Hell due to all the awful things he has done. He now has to set out to right some wrongs and buy himself a pass into Heaven.

Solomon Kane was created by Robert E. Howard, who is better known as the creator of Conan the Barbarian. I find Kane a much more interesting creation. Set during the 1600's (I think) Kane deals with situations involving witches, would-be settlers, religious fanatics, colonialists, and mystics. His outfit, which was ripped off by Van Helsing, is visually iconic:



The movie just...worked. It's clearly low budget, it's clearly made in a post-Army of Darkness world, but it knows exactly what kind of movie it should be. James Purefoy, an actor I only know as Marc Antony on HBO's Rome, is a charming and grounded lead performer. He sells every moment, no matter how ridiculous, and is convincing in the action scenes. Max Von Sydow slums it a bit here, but is good as always, and it is always nice to see Jason Flemyng get work.

The main, and really only, reason to ever see Solomon Kane is how surprisingly strong the fight scenes are. Well choreographed, easy to follow, and well spaced apart, the action in Solomon Kane is by far its best feature.



Absolutely not a film I would tell you to seek out. Again, it's crap, but it's very entertaining crap. While never reaching the absurd highs of Army of Darkness, there's some of that same spirit of fun here, and I'm always happy to watch a competently directed action film that doesn't take itself too seriously. If its ever on TNT or Showtime, and you're in the right mood, leave it on - it's better than you would think.

Grade: A high C+

Best Scene: I enjoyed the fight scene where Solomon tries to defend Pete Postlethwaite's family.