Dark Nicolas Cage, the streaming action fantasy is dark and strange
Pa Robert Succi
| Published
Once again, Rotten Tomatoes has led me astray and away from Nicolas Cage Season of the Witches – a dark, supernatural action-adventure fantasy film set during the Smyrniot Crusades – and robbed me of one of the best films from our best actor at a time when he was mostly releasing direct-to-video content. Although this film is not Cage’s finest hour (still waiting National property 3 here), it in no way deserves the appalling 11 percent critical score it currently holds on the popular review aggregator.
My ego was also inflated to the point of no return after watching it Season of the Witches because my theory has been proven right once again: if you watch enough (supposedly) scary movies, sometimes you strike gold in the form of a fun movie with crazy speed, crazy action, and snappy dialogue.
Will Season of the Witches will be remembered as one of the greatest films of our time? Not at all. But this is one of those rainy Sunday afternoon movies streaming it definitely deserves 95 minutes of your time.
A witchy good time
Season of the Witches conducted by Sir Bechmen von Bleibrook (Nicolas Cage) and Sir Felson (Ron Perlman), two knights who suffered their share of carnage during their rule in the 14th-century Smyrniotic Crusades. Disgusted by their widespread acts of violence in the name of God against all non-believers (including innocent women and children), Behmen and Felson decided to leave their mission and walk away from the violence that had defined most of their adult lives. Eventually, Behmen and Felson become deserters while traveling through plague-ridden Styria, and are tasked by the sickly Cardinal D’Ambroise (Christopher Lee) with the mission of transporting an alleged witch named Anna (Claire Foy) to a group of monks at a distant monastery for a fair trial.
Refusal of the mission means imprisonment and eventual death by hanging or burning (Felson will prefer a quick hanging if given the luxury of choosing how he dies), but both knights will receive a full pardon if they agree to cross the dark forest and make good on the delivery.
Joined by Father Debelzack (Stephen Campbell Moore), the Cardinal’s head bodyguard Johann (Ulrich Thomsen), a card expert and con artist named Hagamar (Stephen Graham), and a young boy with chivalrous aspirations known as Kay von Vollenbart (Robert Sheehan), Behmen and Felson went to seek the monastery. Cardinal D’Ambroise believes that Anna is responsible for the spread of the Black Death in Europe Season of the Witchesand he has reason to believe that the monastery holds the key to stopping the plague that killed him.
Buddy Cope banter for days
Having a bit of an identity crisis, Season of the Witches feels more like a buddy cop movie than an epic fantasy adventure film. Behmen and Felson aren’t just reluctantly going along, as one might think, but seem to be having the time of their lives traversing the treacherous desert and bringing Anna to trial and possibly execution. As war buddies during the epic battle montage found in the first part of the film, they are both so desensitized to violence to the point where they banter like old college roommates at a bachelor party.
While they take their mission seriously, they definitely whistle as they work to pull off the hard work, giving this film a charm I wasn’t expecting.
Season of the Witches sets up this dynamic between Behmann and Felson right away during the opening, shocking battle sequences that remind me of the Wolfgang Petersen-Brad Pitt-starring War Path Troy. Before rushing down the hills to execute hundreds of men by sword, Behmen and Felson first discuss who will be the hero of the day and who will buy beer and mead after a good fight. Against the dark theme that lies at the heart Season of the WitchesI appreciate how much his sense of humor eases the tension when things start to get serious.
Don’t let the cynical critics fool you
At the end of the day, all I want from my media consumption is to be entertainedand Season of the Witches ticks all the boxes on my “flash me in the eye” bingo card. Between the epic battles, the witch-wolves roaming the dark forest, and the never-ending chemistry between Cage and Perlman, you’d be hard-pressed to find a Black Plague movie as entertaining as this one.
If you don’t believe me, consider this:
1980s Xanadu currently has a 31 percent critical score Rotten tomatoeswhich is much higher than Season of the Witches. At least the latter title actually has some semblance of a plot, and no instance of roller-disc-style song and dance instead of a narrative. of course Season of the Witches I have a disappointing lack of Kublai Khan’s pleasure dome, but I’m willing to stick my neck out and say it’s probably for the best.
As of this writing, you can stream Season of the Witches free on Tubi
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