Directed by Michael J. Bassett. Starring James Purefoy, Max von Sydow, Pete Postlethwaite, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Alice Krige and Mackenzie Crook. Action- Adventure - Fantasy UK/Fr/Cz, 104 minutes.

Fans of 80s sword and sorcery are going to love director Michael J. Bassett’s well-appointed, if rather old-fashioned, action fantasy epic. Just not so sure those long fascinated by the 16th century adventures of Robert E. Howard’s pulp fiction Puritan crusader hero are. For the SOLOMON KANE character, whose exploits appeared mainly in the ‘Weird Tales’ magazine from 1928 onwards, simply appeared to wander the world vanquishing evil in whatever local cultural shape it took. Nothing more and certainly nothing less. But in the current comic book-to-movie trend the ‘Conan the Barbarian’ author’s lesser-known ‘somber and gloomy man of pale face and cold eyes’ has to come with an origin story detailing the whys and wherefores of his supernatural bad-guy trashing ways. While writer Bassett does thankfully deal with this deemed commercial necessity reasonably well and bases it sort-of on the very first published story ‘Red Shadows’, it still owes more to sloppy LORD OF THE RINGS seconds than anything intrinsically Howard. Wantonly brutal Solomon (James Purefoy), first seen raping and pillaging his way into a Spanish castle where his pirate band is sucked into mirrors by Satan’s emissaries, is about to be welcomed by another demonic entity to hell. Escaping in the nick of time a change in his ways is the clear path to eluding eternal damnation. But after a year praying for salvation in an English monastery, the priests ask him to leave to fulfill God’s destiny. And that turning point proves to be finding Meredith (Rachel Hurd-Wood), the kidnapped daughter of the Crowthorn family who nurse him back to health when thieves leave him for dead in the forest. It’s a quest that takes him home to his aristocratic birthplace, a vengeful hideously scarred brother (Jason Flemyng), an incarcerated father  (Max Von Sydow) and the fiendish powers relentlessly trying to sabotage his road to redemption. The story may be an obvious A to B to C affair. But decked out with terrific Czech locations, Klaus Badelt’s rousing score, nifty visual effects (not the final CGI monster which just stands there doing nothing except look good in trailers), keen Biblical imagery (the best scene being Solomon’s crucifixion epiphany) and solid supporting acting (by Pete Postlethwaite, Alice Krige, Mackenzie Crook) much can be forgiven. Purefoy in his black slouch WITCHFINDER GENERAL hat (Michael Reeves’ classic witchcraft horror another clear overall inspiration) oddly conjures up the masked role in V FOR VENDETTA he didn’t complete. But he’s absolutely perfect as the West Country accented and morally driven swashbuckler. SOLOMON KANE marks another leap in director Bassett’s capabilities after DEATHWATCH and WILDERNESS and it will be interesting to see where his career takes him now he’s proved he can handle a budget-savvy epic.

Alan Jones

© London FrightFest Ltd. 2000-2009
__________________________________________________________

THE CRITIC-AL LIST
5 STAR FAB - 1 STAR RUBBISH

Alice In Wonderland
The Crazies
Case 39
The Wolfman
Legion
The Lovely Bones
Black Death
Daybreakers
Avatar
The Stepfather
Ninja Assassin
The Descent: Part 2
Amer
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
The Box
2012
Disney's A Christmas Carol
The Horseman
Solomon Kane
Pandorum
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
District 9
An Education
G.I. Joe: The Rise Of The Cobra
Orphan
A Perfect Getaway
The Imaginarium Of
Doctor Parnassus
Up
Harry Potter
And The Half-Blood Prince
The Taking of Pelham 123
Transformers
The Revenge Of The Fallen
Antichrist
Terminator Salvation
Last House On The Left
Inglorious Basterds
Angels & Demons
Adventureland
Star Trek
Crank: High Voltage
Coraline
Dragonball Evolution
Let The Right One In
Drag Me To Hell
Race to Witch Mountain
Knowing
Monsters Vs. Aliens
Not Quite Hollywood
Lesbian Vampire Killers
Martyrs
The Children
Surveillance
Watchmen
The Unborn
The International
Friday The 13th
Franklyn
Push
Punisher:War Zone
The Uninvited
Amusement
The Good The Bad And
The Weird
Hush
Underworld
The RIse OF The Lycans
My Bloody Valentine
Bolt
Slumdog Millionaire