Solomon Kane (2009)

It's 1600. Solomon Kane (James Purefoy) leads a British privateer ship into battle in North Africa. His men are massacred by demons and he comes face to face with the Devil's Reaper. He escapes back to England. After giving away his wealth to an abbey, the monks send him away to his ultimate destiny. He heads for home despite his conflict with his father and the death of his older brother. He joins the Crowthorns (Rachel Hurd-Wood, Pete Postlethwaite, Alice Krige), a Puritan family traveling to the new world. He had renounced violence until the attack of the evil sorcerer Malachi's men.The story is a dark mix of fantasy and history. Purefoy keeps it compelling. I like Postlethwaite and the movie gets a bit muddled without him. It would have been nice to keep him and Krige with Purefoy as they go rescue their daughter. This is a fine example of a mid-level budget adventure but it's not superior. The good is that there is nothing obviously bad here.

We are in England somewhere in the 1610's. In the film Solomon Kane is seen initially to fight in a naval battle being captain in the English navy. Years later we find him settled in a monastery seeking desperately a quite life in the presence of God. After the urge of the local chaplain he is convinced to pay a visit to his old household and meet his father and brother. The English countryside, however, is not a safe place. Villages are ravaged by local bandits who kill and enslave at will. It is clear that Kane tries to avoid any confrontation. During the trip he befriends a family of travelers who aim to reach the local port and take a ship to the New World (America). The movie continues recounting the events till his arrival back at his ancestral home.Solomon Kane was a character in a number of stories written by Robert E. Howard the creator of Conan the Barbarian. Kane was a Puritan, a man driven by a strong religious belief in the power of Good and the necessity to serve justice in a corrupt world. Kane fought in his youth under Sir Francis Drake and then disillusioned perhaps from the violence led a solitary life as a drifter in continental Europe and Africa. The film was a pleasant surprise for me. Kane is depicted as a troubled man with a strong urge to serve justice with a religious fervor. His Puritan upbringing coupled with his military past make him a very interesting character. A very good film that made me want to read some of the Kane stories of Robert Howard.

Wow a SyFy movie that is actually good!! You have a mercenary who foreswears violence after he learns his soul is going to Hell. He retreats to a monastery as part of his restitution to his oath to God. After a couple of years he is told by the abbot to leave it and go out in to the world again. He joins a small group who are peace lovers, they actually resemble Pilgrims in dress. Anyway he still refuses to fight even after their small camp is attacked by the devil spawn of Malichi. He then renounces his vow of peace after they kill the father and kidnap the young daughter. Pursuing the evil ones he eventually over takes them. Along the way he has picked up some supporting forces. There is the epic battle of good versus evil and of course good wins out. The girl is rescued and the hero is saved from Hell. Basically a pretty good movie.

While not a stunning movie, SOLOMON KANE is another serviceable entry in the sword-and-sorcery genre, and is based on a character created by Robert E. Howard, more famous for creating Conan the Barbarian. The plot is rather simple and works as a sort-of origin story. The opening scene establishes the character in a rather cool way, but the rest of the movie details his quest to find the purpose/meaning in his life. Having been a mercenary most of his life, he renounces that and vows to be a man of peace, so that his soul won't be damned to hell. On his journey, he meets a Puritan family, and when their daughter is kidnapped he promises to rescue her. The mechanics of the story suffice, although the pacing was a little bit too "stop-start" for my tastes. There could have been 10-15 minutes shaved off of the run time. Also, being what it is the movie is rather predictable and sometimes falls into cliché. However, where the movie excels is several well-filmed and brutally violent battle scenes. These were some of the best sword fights I've ever seen. There also wasn't too much CGI used, with the exception of two scenes: one at the beginning, and the other at the end. Particularly in the opening scene, the sub-par CGI kind of took me out of the movie. Still, despite the shortcomings, this was a solidly entertaining fantasy-action film.