![]() ![]() Accompanied by a band of sinister mercenaries and armed with instruments of torture, Ulric has clearly not been charged with bringing due process to the accused. Since everyone else in the country has the plague, the health and prosperity of this community must logically stem from the use of black magic. His destination is a rumored settlement out in the woods, where there is believed to be no plague. Sean Bean, a rugged and authoritative Englishman whose screen credits include Patriot Games, Goldeneye, The Fellowship Of The Ring, and Red Riding: 1974, leads the cast as Ulric, a military envoy sent by church officials to sniff out and deal harshly with witchery. ![]() The movie does a fine job with all the themes, atmosphere, plot and characters that two recent major Cage vehicles, Season Of The Witch and the remake of The Wicker Man, bungled so hopelessly. This baby is about bubonic plague, and we even get to see some in action.īlack Death is a bit frustrating for those desperate to defend Nicolas Cage for his transgressions, which by now far outweigh his notable successes. And no, Black Death is not a clever nickname for anything. It may not exactly be The Seventh Seal, but it boasts a coherence and moral weight that few films about the Middle Ages ever have. Fortunately, word of mouth came through very nicely this week, and out of respect for those who recommended it to me, I offer you Christopher Smith’s 2010 film Black Death, a surprisingly solid piece of medieval entertainment. When great cinema releases become a rare commodity, as they have recently, the best approach is to scour all the B-movie buzz at one’s disposal, in hopes of finding a sleeping treasure among all the muck of the previous year. ![]()
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