Popular reviews

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  Review by comrade_yui ★★★★★

  a film after my own heart's desire: a mid-budget gothic horror adaptation of one of robert e. howard's pulp heroes, featuring tons of fun squibs along with an episodic storyline that bounces from slaughter in the middle east to lovecraftian creatures, daemonic barbarians, black magick, decrepit churches, and further adventurous sundries. the action's well-shot and choreographed, it's not afraid to thematically be about a man's genuine reckoning with his faith in god, and there's tons of cool practical effects & decapitations! audiences didn't know how good they had it in 2009; something this fun and un-pretentious would never be made nowadays.

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  Review by Ziglet_mir ★★★ 3

  Let’s just get it said right from the top: the writing is absolutely non-existent. Microscopic. Minimized. Replaced or substituted for action and style, which ends up not being a total killer. The underdeveloped writing and character tropes are noticeable to a point of hokey drama, when a less tone-deaf melodrama would work just fine. I would like to think the filmmakers knew what they were sacrificing to focus on a titular-character action-revenge piece, where some of the action and some of the make-up, effects, and blocking work surprisingly well. With that said I can never discredit Pete Postlethwaite, while looking fragilely ill here, is no question the top performer and the saving grace of some well-starved cinematic charisma.

  It’s amazing how…

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  Review by comrade_yui ★★★★★ 3

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

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  Review by nathaxnne [goodbye <3] ★★★★½

  M.J. Bassett's Solomon Kane manages to be the best Robert E. Howard film adaptation of the XXIst Century, the best since John Milius' Conan The Barbarian in 1982, by taking its source material seriously on its own terms, leaning into the lonely tortured warrior feels, the abandoned crumbling kingdoms, the land besieged by decades of war and plunder, the rising stench of malevolent sorcery mixing with the fetid odor of mass graves, Witchfinder General (1968) loses itself on the field of battle, abandoned to dungeon crawl thru the mud & filth & endless rain choking the catacombs, what is left of men, horses, sacrificial maidens clog the passage downward, each successive portal lacquered a deeper dark through the reapplied layers of centuries…

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  Review by Travis Lytle ★★★ 2

  With its collection of geek-fever dream elements, including pirates, barbarian raiders, devils, Puritans, witches, swordsmen, and twisted sibling rivalries, "Solomon Kane" swings for the fences in an attempt to be a contemporary, epic swashbuckler. In mant regards, the film is successful: it is quick-paced, fun, and its hodge-podge of story elements is entertaining at the least. Cinematically, it is nicely put together, and its graphic novel/historical amalgam imagery is striking.

  In the end, however, this overwrought piece of entertainment strikes out in important areas: it is fun, but slightly empty. Its story is too pulpy to be taken seriously, and its production, albeit sturdy, revels too much in disparate elements. Still, the film succeeds as fresh-minded throwback to the swords and sorcery epics of yesteryear. "Solomon Kane" offers forgettable, but enjoyable, spectacle.

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  Review by Gregor Kreyca ★★★½ 2

  "There are many paths to redemption, not all of them peaceful."

  
  As a big fan of Dark Fantasy and Sword & Sorcery movies I can say that I like Solomon Kane quite a lot. I don’t necessarily think that it is a great movie but it’s a well-made and a very enjoyable one if you are a fan of the genre. I would also state that this is definitely one of the better Robert E. Howard (the creator of Conan) adaptations. I like the cast here especially James Purefoy as the titular character. I also love the look of the movie. The set design and costumes look great and I like the fact that weather is used to great effect in…

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  Review by Grooveman ★★★★ 5

  "If I kill you, I am bound for hell. It is a price I shall gladly pay."

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  Review by clare ★★★ 3

  the CGI in MJ Bassett movies is a beautiful thing. those adorable plague doctors! the witch who turns into birds! that opening coastal cityscape. i would live in it, if i could! the reaper and masked rider are likewise enchanting. i want to collect all of this in the same way my mom collected rare beanie babies or array them in my memory like she did with her cabinets of precious moments figurines. the joy of finding them is like getting an xtra large fountain soda and cigarettes from a gas station. and you get to sit in your car with a giant pepsi with the ice-melt-to-soda ratio approaching its perfect point and a full, fresh pack of cigarettes, and…

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  Review by Andy Summers 🤠 ★★★½ 2

  When it comes to "Swords & Sorcery" films unfortunately they get measured up against Peter Jackson's "Lord Of The Rings" trilogy. Unfair I know, but if one comes along with enough panache and some interesting imagery and story-line, then there's an audience waiting.
  "Solomon Kane" emerged back in 2009 and was a box office flop. The reviews however gave the film credit for imagination and some dark atmospheric visuals that set the tone for a Gothic supernatural adventure yarn. James Purefoy has been a class act for a number of years now. His turn in the HBO series "Rome" as Mark Antony was a revelation and he brings much of that swagger to a role that requires an all-action persona. Purefoy…

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  Review by Rob Hill ★★★ 8

  You know those movies that are so complicated that you can barely follow the story? This has the same effect, but it's because, well, there just isn't really any plot or character development.

  Doesn't ruin the film! Other than some bad CGI in the finale, most of this is full of reasonably badass fantasy action. The darkness of the world reminds me of The Witcher 3, but if it didn't have the terrific plot. So it's like a Witcher video game if they were more video gamey. Not an insult!

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  Review by Kevin Majestyck ★★★★ 6

  M.J. Bassett’s horror-fantasy puts the “grim” and the “dark” in grim-dark. Nothing whimsical about this thing! Reminiscent of 80s fantasy movies — but dead serious. Parts of Hammer’s horror cycle also come to mind, without the glacial pacing.

  Bassett’s adaptation is not based directly off a particular story, but the violence and unease of Howard’s writing is retained. Kane here is set against a sufficiently evil cult — albeit, a little vague; the highwaymen don’t seem to act any different post-initiation — in a world already beleaguered by plague and lawlessness. There was a sort of “witchfinder period” revival at the time of release: BLACK DEATH, SEASON OF THE WITCH, and at the tail-end THE LAST WITCH HUNTER. SOLOMON KANE…

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  Review by PT99 ★★★

  It's like Logan if Logan was a 17th century (it's 1601, bite me) guy with a funny hat who tells everyone how tragic his backstory is and, "No, really, I'm such a bad dude. You could do better."

  6/10