It's the Season of the witch for Nicolas Cage. He plays a 14th century knight in the movie who gets the task of taking a suspected witch to a monastery. Of course, the witch doesn't look anything like witches in old children's fairytales. She's young and pretty and Cage's knight character has doubts about her being an evil witch.

Well, since it's the 14th century, everyone's superstitious and the monks conclude that the girl is the one responsible for the black plague. Things happen en route to the monastery and deformed people - who are apparently undead in more ways than one - attack. The only way to stop them is to chop off their heads. Is the girl really the one to blame for all the sickness and strange happenings?

Cage is at his best with his range of facial expressions in this movie and reminds us of his performance in Face Off. It's amazing what Cage can do with his face, which usually looks sullen but can change as needed in a scene. It's very convincing every time. In the movie, Knowing, he shows us a number of ways to look puzzled. It's likely we can expect the same in Season of the Witch, which is also about the supernatural. Cage seems to be slowly moving into thematic films which give emphasis on exotic places and times past. Is he moving away from mainstream action? It's not bad at all. Maybe we can expect more of this from Cage.

Nicolas Cage is joined by veteran actors Ron Perlman and Christopher Lee, both of which are old staples of films with gothic themes. Perlman is almost always expected to be present where powerful characters with strong features are needed. He is a crazy monk in The Name of the Rose; an offensive mercenary in Blade; the Beast in the Beauty and the Beast series with Linda Hamilton; and of course, we also know him as Hell Boy. Christopher Lee, on the other hand, is our favorite Dracula. In the Star Wars series, he's Count Dooku, with a name that's a spin-off and a nod to his role as the immortal vampire of classic literature.

The hero in Season of the Witch is Cage and he's the one who will save the day in the end. Will he also save the girl from execution as a witch? Is she even a real witch at all? These questions will be answered if you watch Season of the Witch. It's a good one to enjoy in Halloween, but you'll have to wait if it's not available yet.

Nicolas Cage in The Sorcerer's Apprentice


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