Solomon Kane (movie)

The story opens late in the Elizabethian period with our hero, the Dread Pirate Solomon Kane (James Purefoy), sacking some Saracen stronghold of Devil Worshipers. It proves to be a catastrophe where Kane is the sole survivor. Next we see him, he is hidden away in a monastery trying to undo his evil past though knowing he is doomed to hell.

The mood of Kane is in keeping with Robert Howard's vision but the events are not. England is being conquered by some dark lord who corrupts people with his touch, thereby creating bloodthirsty and fearless soldiers for his further conquests. Oddly, Queen Elizabeth seems to be taking no action whatsoever to fight. If she is, we never see it. No, Solomon, who has taken a vow of pacifism, must save the day. Well, the pacifism does not last, thankfully. Eventually, Kane finds the source of the villainy and fights the devil he escaped at the Saracen stronghold.

This movie is supposed to be the origin story, built on what little is revealed of Kane's past in the various stories. I found it mostly disappointing. Kane's unlikeliest adventures - which this would certainly be - all took place in darkest Africa, a place still outside of history. Setting the story in England during the final years of Elizabeth or the early years of James was silly.

Mostly laughable. Very disappointing.

 

Having read all the stories in anticipation of the movie, I was particularly disappointed.  The makers would have been far better served had they just adapted one of the actual Solomon Kane adventures for the screen rather than invent this disaster.

Solomon Kane (collected stories)

After finishing Kull, I looked for another Robert E. Howard book and found Solomon Kane.  By May 28, 2008, I had finished the collection of short stories:

 

Solomon Kane was the first of Robert E. Howard's epic characters, preceding Conan the Barbarian, Kull the Conqueror, and Red Sonja. Kane is described as a pallid-faced Puritan with a brace of pistols and a dueling sword. His adventures take place in the late 16th century, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The tales of Kane begin in England and the early adventures are best described as ghost stories. The format of these tales vary, sometimes just poems that outline some event (occasionally even historical events). Kane really comes to life when he travels to Africa and then journeys ever deeper into that Dark Continent. There he encounters vampires, harpies, dark magic, the remnants of ancient Atlantis, a lost colony of Assyria, and other fantastical beasts. In most of these, it is easy to see Conan in his Hyborian Age rather than a Puritan in the Elizabethan Age. Clearly, Kane found his way to darkest Africa so Howard could tell such fantastic tales.

Kane purports to be a very religious man and yet he readily accepts a magical staff from a witchdoctor. In fact, he allies himself with a witchdoctor who would surely burn at the stake in Europe. Kane is an unusually tolerant Puritan. It is also curious that Kane is very chivalrous toward women but never desires them. He has that same indifference toward women that Kull possessed. Also like Kull, Kane is a fount of knowledge. He knows a number of languages so that he can usually converse with African tribesmen wherever he may be. In the stories, Kane is a wanderer, driven by God to punish the wicked or fight evil but we learn that he was once a sea captain, was enslaved by Muslims for some years, learned woodcraft from Indians in Darien (Central America), and was a member of the fleet that repelled the Spanish Armada (1588). He's an expert swordsman, a crack shot, and amazingly strong despite a lanky build. Kane is an interesting but incomplete character. He doesn't understand his own motivation, always saying that he is compelled by a higher power, leaving him as little more than a puppet. Howard was more interested in writing extraordinary events than developing a complex character.

A movie is in the works that will bring Solomon Kane to the big screen (IMDb shows it as scheduled for release this year). It promises to explain the beginnings of Kane, why he abandoned his career as a ship's captain and became a wanderer out to smite evil. This is a tale that Robert Howard never told but I'd like to see.

 

That movie did come to pass and I comment on it somewhere ahead.  Be patient.