‘Season of the Witch’ tanks in reviews, may be worth renting

Nicolas Cage and his “Gone in 60 Seconds”director, Dominic Sena, team up once more for “Season of the Witch,”a blockbuster film that tanked heavily in reviews but may deserve redemption as a rental.

“Season of the Witch” earned a disappointing four percent on Rottentomatoes’ “tomatometer,” but would you expect anything more from a movie starring Cage as the main action role? His recent film roles have been mediocre at best and his role in “Season of the Witch” is no exception.

“Bangkok Dangerous,” “Next”and “Con Air”proved that Cage should stay in his acting niche of playing overly neurotic characters, such as his roles in “The Rock,” “Lord of War,” “National Treasure”and “Matchstick Men;” but, he continues to stray from his forte is his newest role as Behmen, a 14th-century knight tasked with transporting a plague-causing witch to a monastery for trial.

“Season of the Witch” opens with a pulse-pounding introduction that pulls the audience in, which is then followed by yet another introduction that introduces Cage and Ron Perlman (“Hellboy”), Behmen’s right hand man and battle chum, through a montage of epic battle scenes.

Cage and Perlman show excellent chemistry throughout the film with their ex-soldier attitudes and comic one liners; Cage and Perlman’s characters are highly developed, whereas the development of the other characters is lacking. Viewers will find themselves disconnected and uninvolved by the struggles of these characters.

The plot of the film is its strongest element. Although the film drags on from time to time, the plot is impressive and contains many suspenseful moments— such as a perilous journey across a dilapidated bridge and a battle against starving wolves— and a stunning twist that is sure to surprise the audience.

Despite having a quality beginning and middle, the ending of the film is disappointing because of its terrible use of CGI. The CGI looks as if it was completed on a cheap budget and may remind the viewer of something off of an animated TV show like “Gargoyles.”

The film also seems to have a secondary mission of grossing out its audience with an unnecessary use of nastily depicted plague victims.

Viewers will also wonder why certain events occurred but will not be offered an answer. One of these scenes involves an obviously dead and infected woman lurching at the audience with no explanation or reaction by the two main characters, who stroll out of the room as if nothing happened.

Production of “Season of the Witch”took place in 2008 and was supposed to hit theatres in March of 2010, but was pulled from release. It sat untouched until September 2010 and was revamped with newly-filmed footage and extensive editing before its release—which may explain the film’s many flaws in logic, explanations and CGI.

Even though it is not Golden Globe or Oscar worthy, “Season of the Witch” is definitely worth viewing and may impress select audiences; but do yourself a favor and wait until it hits DVD and Blu-ray to be on the safe side.