Vin Diesel's fought a lot of baddies in his time. Drug cartels. Germans. Children. Aliens. But never witches. It was about time he took up the sword and struck out at these foes, which is precisely his aim in 'The Last Witch Hunter' - but will this be just another action film, or can the supernatural twist save the day?
Kaulder (Diesel) and his fellow witch hunters embark on a do-or-die mission: to kill the queen witch, who has cast a plague over the humans. However, as Kaulder strikes the final blow, she curses him with immortality. Jump forward 800 years, and Kaulder is still at it, handing out justice to witches in a much more civil manner. However, the truce that was formed to protect the human race is wavering, and the powers possessing evil magic grow stronger and more dangerous by the day.
SWITCH: 'THE LAST WITCH HUNTER' TRAILER
All in all, this isn't a bad premise. Nor is the story overtly offensive. Breck Eisner's direction is generally quite handsome, working with a very dark, macabre palette. And on the whole, the cast is actually quite solid - Michael Caine as Kaulder's original charge, Elijah Wood as his replacement, and Rose Leslie as the good witch sidekick are all a pleasure to watch... hell, even Vin Diesel is as entertaining as Vin Diesel can be. Yet there's something a little hollow about this whole affair - there's a healthy dosage of magic, action, romance, comedy... something to keep everyone happy. Perhaps that's the problem; it's a little too much painting-by-numbers.
So, in the end, it's not that bad. I enjoyed my 1 hour and 45 minutes. It was a reasonable ride. We went on a journey into this surreal world, yet I'm not certain the payoff was satisfactory. By trying to cover too many bases, 'The Last Witch Hunter' may have shot itself in the foot. Nonetheless, it's definitely worth the cost of the movie ticket to see Vin Diesel and Michael Caine trying to out-low talk each other.