Conan the Barbarian in 17th century England, basically. At times it feels like you are watching RPG cut-scenes strung together into a film. Also, NO LAUGHS, which is a huge problem with something as silly as this. Kane is taken extraordinarily seriously for what is a shoddy b-movie. Be that as it may, I can't bring myself to hate the film. I like it when b-movies try and be serious. And Kane does spin its doomed anti-hero seeking redemption set-up into something rather profound, about the difficulty of sticking to an absolute (religious) morality in an evil world. A shame the film bottled it at the end. Kane should not have been 'saved'. There is no redemption for killing people. And yet the world forces us to. Kane should have emerged from the epic showdown still damned but with his future open, riding into a sunset that promised fresh opportunities to atone for his past. Perhaps riding into a sequel as well.
It tried to be clever, but it wasn't clever enough. And I say again, NO LAUGHS. So if you don't like Conan, there really is nothing for you here.
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