Season of the Witch - 1 1/2 smiles

Even as a Nicholas Cage fan, I found “Season of the Witch” oddly uninvolving. Cage is subdued, not his usual hammy self. All of the characters are underdeveloped and there’s little suspense. Cage is Behman, a disillusioned 14^th-century knight who, along with his friend and fellow warrior Felson (Ron Perlman), has abandoned the Crusades after 10 years of warfare and slaughter. On their way back to their homeland, they are pressed into a mission by a dying cardinal (Christopher Lee, almost unrecognizable under some nasty makeup). The Black Death has ravaged the land and the masses believe it’s the result of witchcraft. Behman and Felson are to transport the accused witch, Anna (Claire Foy), to a remote monastery for trial. Behman sees this as an opportunity for redemption as he promises to protect the young girl. He and Felson are accompanied by a ragtag bunch of heroes.

Although the plot sounds good on paper, neither the story nor the characters come fully to life. We don’t get to know the heroes very well before they start dying off. And Cage seems to be mailing in his performance although some of his dialogue with Perlman adds much needed energy. Also the early scenes of the Crusades battles are so uniformly bad that they’re unconvincing. The problems with “Season of the Witch” lie with director Dominic Sena, who doesn’t seem to know if this is supposed to be a buddy road movie, an exciting medieval adventure or a thoughtful meditation on faith. Ultimately, it isn’t any of these. 1/10/11