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Solomon Kane (2010)

Time Out rating

Average user rating

22 reviews

Synopsis

A mercenary becomes a peaceful puritan after meeting the devil, but comes out of retirement to fight an evil sorcerer. From the director behind 'Wilderness' and 'Deathwatch'.

Movie review

From Time Out London

Scarred and tattooed, the swashbuckling hero of this dark sword and sorcery movie bears the marks of his brutal life like stigmata; the impression left by British writer-director Michael J Bassett’s monstrously entertaining action-adventure is just as indelible. Rather than adapt one of the ‘Savage Tales of Solomon Kane’ written by ‘Conan the Barbarian’ creator Robert E Howard, Bassett has created a character-driven yet action-packed ‘origins’ story, one that traces his hero’s journey from bloodthirsty pirate through peaceful pilgrim to conflicted Puritan avenger – complete with cape, distinctive black hat, pistols and swords. James Purefoy is intensely charismatic as Kane, who, escaping the clutches of a soul-sucking demon, renounces violence. But when the Puritan family he befriends is slaughtered by the sorcerer Malachi’s disfigured henchman, he takes up the sword again, vowing to rescue their enslaved daughter Meredith (Rachel Hurd-Wood). Grounded in a believable sixteenth-century English milieu that sharpens rather than blunts its fantastical edge, the film’s epic vision bears comparison with the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy, its imaginative supernatural elements confidently fused with a savage reality.

Author: Nigel Floyd

Time Out London Issue 2061: 18-24 February, 2010

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User reviews of this film

Tony82 said...

Posted on Aug 04 2011 12:40 brilliant film, totally incredible. I was amazed at how character driven it was. I was expecting rubbish more along the lines of Season Of The witch but Solomon Kane is disceptively subtle and beautfiully filmed. This film is excellent

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Marsellus said...

Posted on Jun 29 2011 12:04 Not bad at all - a bit different but still appealing to those who like a bit of comic book action and gore. Purefoy was good in the lead role. He handled dramatic scenes and action scenes equally well. The SFX were not amazing but good enough for the small screen. Nice to see the late Pete Postlethwaite turn up as well. If a sequel is made, I'll make sure to see it in cinemas.

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Harriet B said...

Posted on Jan 04 2011 14:33 Don't usually bother with writing reviews but I disagree so much with what people are saying about this film I feel compelled to try to put the viewer rating up. Great performances, fun concept, good film. I loved it

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Ziad said...

Posted on Dec 03 2010 20:59 I don't understand your comments. There is something really wrong going on in here... the movie is AMAZING! easily a match to the Lord of the Rings, The atmosphere was dark and serious, the visual effect top notch and the casting just plain and simple superb! i strongly disagree with your misleading negative feedback and comments. To all new comers and readers don't be affected by these stupid comments, go for it and believe me you won't regret it!

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phil said...

Posted on Jul 03 2010 09:17 Watched film last night and must agree with most of the negative comments regarding this film. The story line is is somewhat negligible. The main characters have very poor somerset accents. On the whole i would avoid ever watching such drool again, how this film ever got a 4 star rating is beyond me!!

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iain said...

Posted on May 30 2010 22:05 Utter rubbish. Please dont waste this portion of your life seeing this dross. If you ignore this and see it anyway, don't bother staying, it wont get better towards the end, just leave.
Negative 5 stars.

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Jayne M said...

Posted on Mar 06 2010 15:55 The trailer for this film looked really good & Time out gave it a 4 Star rating (why, i will never know). To be blunt it was a load of rubbish. Plot, acting & accents all dubious. Will not be taking time out reviews into consideration in the future & read other peoples opinions instead.

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jules said...

Posted on Mar 05 2010 15:54 Pathetic , don`t spend a dime on it

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Wizz said...

Posted on Mar 03 2010 21:40 I watched the trailer, liked what I saw, so decided to take a looksee. On the only day I can go it wasn't showing at my local so had to suss out which other nearby cinemas where showing it. On my website travels I came across this forum and, after reading all the comments, have decided I'll give it a miss. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's hammy accents, naff storylines and knowing the ending before it's shown. The trailer must have shown all the best bits so I'll consider myself lucky I didn't pay to see it!

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Ant said...

Posted on Mar 01 2010 11:06 I agree wth "Davey Jones"2222 - there mut be something going on for your to give Avatar 2 stars and this rubbish 4 stars -totally misleading. This movie is not worth anyone seeing...even if you are stuck on a plane and this is only choice available it would be better to stare out the window at the clouds than waste time on this....

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davey jones said...

Posted on Feb 25 2010 15:49 You guys must b real braindead or something, i mean to give solomon 4 stars over other films you rated like avatar at 2 stars is simply an abomination of reckless rating. The film overall is catastrophic in terms of origionality and entertaining storytelling. I should have known better that going to watch it at the cinemas when id only first heard about it on its release date; that usually tells you its nothing any good watchin, usually. I thought i could be wrong about this film going to see it but in the first 15 mins of the film it was clear straight away that the acting was going to be dire(not so terrible from purefoy) dimwitted to the point of frustration, and that was all in the opening scenes. Sadly i thought things would improve but as the story went on there was no backlog to really build a solid Kane character we could understand, leaving the story to delve into scenes and fights i really had no care about. Some visual effects in the fightscenes were medico and enough to keep you in your seat, at least until 'the devil' eventually showed up with some poor s.effects in the form of some rocky giant that looked like it came staright out pokemon not the dark ages. Overall, you can find more emotion and origionality in a fish. Better to watch a LOTR film again than going to spend your money here, plus theres far better films to watch. If james purefoy had any idea beforehand what this film could do to reboost his career he would have sold his soul on ebay and not to the devil.

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Ian Jones said...

Posted on Feb 25 2010 11:57 The opening scene was just about good enough to make up for our hero's wandering west country accent. But his conversion to puritanism in 17C Britain was laughable. I was waiting for a "beam me up Scotty" rapture moment.
It's plugin approach of "take it on faith" references
- add a dash of d & d here, vampires there - got more chaotic & tedious as the film plodded on. Defnitely an example of more is less.
This looked more like an interactive game than a big screen narrative. Fans steeped in the fantasy history and lore might be able to build the missing links to make it wild entertainment. Anyone else who enjoys a stand alone feature will do well to look elsewhere...

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_Matt_1977_ said...

Posted on Feb 23 2010 16:17 This medieval Constantine is very enjoyable and decent entertainment with a lovely aesthetic. It does suffer from overuse of movie tropes, an element of predictability, possibly some wonky accents and some slightly corny dialogue, but it's still very decent entertainment and certainly far better than Wolfman.

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Jay said...

Posted on Feb 21 2010 21:09 The cinema was packed when I went to watch this film and after seeing a 4 star rating on here without reading any reviews i went with an open mind. From the trailers id seen i thought it looked like the usual medevil sword slayer type film...I wasn't far wrong...not the worst film ive seen but if youve watched anythin like lord of the rings recently this is more of the same style film but no where near as good...Nothing keeps you on the edge of your seat...nothing makes you feel this is any way original...this is a 2 star film without a doubt...if you feel like watching this think long and hard if there is anything else to watch :-)

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TopCat said...

Posted on Feb 20 2010 09:38 In short - if not total rubbish it's mostly recycled refuse. Lightweight, shambollick, predictable and ultimately disappointing. Long, dull scenes with little to engage, poor script, ham performances and shallow characters all wrapped in short periods of unconvincing CGI action. Wait for it to get to TV and go see something else if you want an enjoyable night at the flicks.

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