Solomon Kane

Director: Michael J. Bassett

Writers: Michael J. Bassett, Robert E. Howard (character)

Stars: James Purefoy, Max von Sydow, Rachel Hurd-Wood

After denying the Devil his soul ex-mercenary Solomon Kane devotes his life to walking the lonely path to redemption.  But when a great evil arises and kidnaps a young girl he vowed to protect Solomon must resume a life of violence placing his soul within the Devil’s grasp once more.
    
Released in 2009 this film didn't receive an official U.S. release and to this point still hasn’t.  A low budget film that falls into the realm of B movies it makes up for its short comings (i.e. CGI) with a combination of set designs, costumes and props that create a dark and dangerous world for Solomon Kane to carve a path through.    

Chosen to play the role of Solomon Kane was actor James Purefoy who created a gritty, unforgiving and dangerous persona with the right amount of attitude to back it up.  Fitting right into the role Purefoy gives a decent performance worthy of Robert E. Howard’s short stories.  Supporting Purefoy is a cast which includes Max von Sydow, Rachel Hurd-Wood and Pete Postlethwaite. 

The plot is quite basic and very predictable as one may expect but what’s nice is that it doesn’t stray off into any unnecessary side plots or try to be more than a simple fantasy/adventure movie.  Filled with well choreographed action scenes and the typical dialogue full of threats of death and vengeance the film does allow for a little bit of character development.  This is noticeable in Solomon as the viewer can see the changes in his personality throughout his quest for redemption. 

Is this movie worth viewing?  If you’re a fan of this genre I think you’ll find it a fun way to spend an hour and forty five minutes of your time.  If it's a questionable decision then you're probably better off skipping this one.   Either way keep in mind as mentioned this may be a little difficult to gets a hold of due to the non U.S. release. 

Rating: 2 Reels

The Thing

Director: John Carpenter

Writers: John W. Campbell Jr. (story), Bill Lancaster (screenplay)

Stars: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David

When a group of American scientists conducting a routine scientific expedition rescue a stray dog from a pair of seemingly insane Norwegians from a neighboring camp the men soon find themselves facing a deadly foe unlike anything they ever imagined.  Fighting for their survival it quickly becomes apparent not everyone is who they seem to be.

Directed by John Carpenter this movie has always been a favorite of mine, one that I never get bored of watching.  Adapted from the short story “Who goes there?” by John W. Campbell, this is the second of two films created from Campbell's story.  Neither film has any tie to the other, the first film “The Thing from Another World” was released in 1951 while 'The Thing' was released in 1982. 

Hitting theaters this year is a prequel to Carpenter’s film which apparently focuses on the group of scientists who initially discovered the frozen life form.  Although this is a prequel it keeps the title used for the 1982 release.

The script used for this movie was well written and creates a tense atmosphere throughout that keeps you guessing about the intentions of each character and if they are who they claim to be.  Combined with the great cinematography and an eerie score these all make for an incredible horror film not soon forgot well after the final credits have ended.

With a strong cast led by Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley and Keith David, the actors all do a great job of working off one another building and growing the prefect levels of paranoia, distrust and fear throughout the conclusion of the movie.

In my opinion this film stands on its own regardless of the poor reception it initially received from critics and audiences upon release.  Since then the movie has become a cult classic and is still a common topic of discussion on many movie related message boards.  John Carpenter is a master of creating a scenario that quite often leaves the end of the film open to discussion letting the viewer make their own assumptions to what they think happened or will happen.  That trait alone is something which helps make this such a good movie.  

This is definitely one of many John Carpenters movies that is worth adding to the DVD collection. 

Rating: 2 1/2 Reels

Captain America: The First Avenger

Director: Joe Johnston
Writers: Christopher Markus (screenplay), Stephen McFeely (screenplay), Joe Simon (comic books), Jack Kirby (comic books)
Stars: Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Tommy Lee Jones

After being continually rejected for military service an unfit Steve Rogers volunteers for a highly classified government experiment that transforms him into Captain America, the first Avenger.

Prior to seeing this film I figured it would be in line with some of the more successful Marvel movies such as Iron Man, Thor and The incredible Hulk. I was really curious to see how Chris Evans was going to tackle the role of one of Marvel Comics most iconic characters seeing as he had already played the role of the Human Torch in the Fantastic Four.  Another point of curiosity was how closely the script was going to follow the origins story, so far it's been a hit or miss for each Marvel movie.

What I ended up seeing left me pleasantly surprised, the film did the character justice.  Although this didn't come as a huge surprise seeing as I can't imagine Marvel comics allowing this movie to be made without their full approval.  On top of that this is one of the main leads into Marvels next big film ‘The Avengers’ which comes out next year.

Over all the script was well written and covered a lot of key details which had been slightly altered.  However I do feel that it could have included a little more action and focused less on the events after Steve Rogers transformation to the point where he became a fighting soldier.   The other thing I noticed was the number of characters which seemed to be crunched into the film but weren't given the chance to be properly be expanded upon.  This seems to be a common flaw in various Marvel movies.

As for being new and innovative opposed to being a simple retread of previously made movies about Captain America this big budget film definitely topped them all.  This of course also takes into consideration that two of the previous movies were made for television (1979) and the third (1990) was so low budget it went right to video and barely saw the light of day.

The cast did rather well in their respective roles.  Chris Evans never brought to mind the Human Torch, a seemingly shared concern seen in fan postings on various sites.  Evans carried the lead in a convincing manner.  A man transformed into a hero, fighting for an Army that previously wouldn’t have him and now facing an enemy like none before.  Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull was the perfect villain, calculating and merciless in his attempt to rule the world.  Tommy Lee Jones sarcastic wit and occasional dry biting humor fell in line perfectly with the role of Colonel Phillips.  And finally Dominic Cooper's portrayal of a young Howard Stark was rather surprising and not what I was expecting.  Opposed to a stern and humorless industrialist type there is a persona that portrayed an intelligent youthfulness with a hint of sarcasm and charisma.    

I suggest seeing this film in the theater although I really don’t think there will be anything lost in the transition to DVD.  But like most Marvel movies there's just something about seeing the comic book legends on the big screen.

Rating: 3 Reels