Sweet Trailer…'Solomon Kane'

Well it’s a rainy Monday here in Dallas, so it seemed the right time to post the first trailer for James Purefoy‘s latest: Solomon Kane.

A 16th century Puritan, Solomon Kane is a somber-looking man who wanders the world with no apparent goal other than to vanquish evil in all its forms. His adventures, published mostly in the pulp magazine Weird Tales, often take him from Europe to the jungles of Africa and back.

Honestly, I was expecting a little more and a little less…but let me explain.  When I say “a little more” I was expecting something with some more feeling, not the sort of ‘wooden’ acting that’s abundant in this trailer.  When I say “a little less”, I was expecting something original and less like a seemingly bastardized mash-up (rip off rather) of Lord of the Rings and Van Helsing.

I’ll admit, I like this trailer visually but I know that all I’m seeing is here is a series of high points and stereotypes in a very formulaic trailer.  To be fair this is the first look (aside from last month’s out of context production stills) and this might be misleading as trailers are often guilty of (although my gut tells me this one is right on).

In my experience with these types of films, movies like this are (most times) hit or miss and it’s rare that there’s a respectable and memorable middle ground.  This genre is either going to be Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter….or Eragon and In the Name of the King…so it’s sad that nothing (to my knowledge anyway) has made a good stance in between.  Personally I’m not big into “medieval” films but I think this has some merit.  Plus I was one of a few people who liked Van Helsing so maybe this incarnation (or doppelganger from the looks of it) will be the closest thing we’ll ever get to a second Helsing film.

What about all of you who do like what you see?  Am I way off in my assumptions??  Does this trailer do anything for you?