Solomon Kane

Based on the DC Comic of the same name, Solomon Kane is the story of a mercenary who owes his soul to the devil, and the only way to redeem it is to fight the evil that captured his friends daughter and save her life. Wow.. I’m actually getting pretty good at synopsisising movies!

Although based on a comic, this seems for like a game to film adaptation; the action consist of Kane demolishing a load of Henchmen to reach a higher power. The action itself was decent, but I really don’t find sword fighting (or the variation of “lightsabers”) exciting. I had the sense that the fighting was more realistic than other similar films; it took three attempts to behead a villain at one point. But all the “boss” battles are disappointing; especially the final showdown. It promises so much, yet literally delivers so little.

And the 2nd in command, Malachi, is an odd character. Not just his appearance – he looks like he fell asleep reading the newspaper and the print transferred to his face. Whenever his name is spoken, the speaker acts fearful and remarks on his dominance. But when we finally see him, it’s a little disappointing. He doesn’t look too threatening, unlike his masked ‘messenger’, who looks like a rejected Slipknot band member. This guy is brutally violent, but admittedly is too similar to the Orc leader from Lord Of The Rings.

Speaking of LOTR, I think Kane will be appreciated more by fans of the trilogy. It has a similar look and tone about it. Obviously LOTR had a much higher budget, but Kane captures the essence of Olde England perfectly; the production design is a beauty to behold and the majority of work looks like it went into that. Because the acting, script and pretty much everything else is below average, or what is expected of a cinematic release. Kudos to Purefoy though: although he starts out amateurish as Kane, the more the film goes on, he seems to grow into the role. Can’t really take him seriously though with a Somerset accent…

Solomon Kane is a forgettable action feature that would have been suited to a Straight-To-DVD release. It probably would have had more exposure, and ultimately profited more, that way. But the ending could suggest a sequel, which if the producers are smart would go to DVD.

Forget slaying demons and foes, I see this as the only viable way that the character of Solomon Kane can survive.