Season Of The Bullshit

Whatever happened to director Dominic Sena? Once he was the darling of uber producers Jerry Bruckheimer (with whom he made the fun Gone In 60 Seconds) and Joel Silver (with whom he made the smart and cool Swordfish). After a huge gap in the 2000's he returned to make the dreary Whiteout with Kate Beckinsalke and he's followed that up by the gloomy Season Of The Witch.

The other question is...can anybody actually predict what movie Nicholas Cage will star in next. In broad strokes we know that Cage will be drawn to quirky characters (just look as The Rock's Stanley Goodspeed) and that there are three main type of films you'll see him in; the blockbuster (National Treasure/Sorcerers Apprentice), the indie drama (Bad Lieutenant/Adaptation) and the geeky (Kick Ass/Ghost Rider/Drive Angry). Oh, and how wild will Nic's hair be?

I can't answer the first question about Sena but I do know that the energy and vibrancy that once signified his earlier work is now gone. Season, while looking great and moody, is rather pedestrian in execution.

As for Cage, his hair is about a 4 out of 5 on the wild factor and this definitely falls into the 'geek' camp of his movie choices. Cage and the gruff Ron Pearlman play Knights who have deserted the church, protesting against the atrocities they can no long carry out in God's name. They're given the opportunity to clear their names when a township ask them to transport an alleged Witch to the nearest monastery for trail. Cue spooky happenings, sword fights, wolf attacks and winged demons.

This is unremarkable Friday night popcorn entertainment that's visually convincing thanks to some great location work and some solid special effects. There's a couple of major problems though. First, the mystery as to whether the prisoner is a witch or not is redundant thanks to a cool but pointless pre-title sequence. Secondly, and most importantly, the accents are shocking. It's obvious that when the film makers discovered that Nic Cage couldn't do a convincing English accent he was told to go for a neutral, mid-Atlantic inflection. What's amazing is that the rest of the cast were asked to perform with the same accent, a perplexing fusion of American and English, no matter their origin. So one minute you've got English actors talking in an English accent, who then end their sentences with an American twang.

But don't let that stop you from watching a diverting period actioner. Get a beer from out the fridge...make that several...and settle in for the night.