The Last Witch Hunter is surprisingly original in the sense that it’s not based on a comic book or even a series of best-selling books. That’s pretty much the nicest thing I can say about this movie. After scrutinizing this movie, a few words immediately came to mind: Ridiculous, silly, ludicrous, and did I mention ridiculous?
Vin Diesel who seems to be taking a break from the Fast & Furious franchise stars as Kaulder, an 14th century witch hunter who becomes that has an encounter with a deadly witch that curses him with immortality. 800 years later, he joins a secret fraternity of sorts in the Catholic church dedicated to hunting down and killing supernatural creatures.
Michael Caine costars as his superior, the 36th Dolan and Elijah Wood is Kaulder’s sidekick. Vin Diesel. Michael Caine. Elijah Wood. This movie should be a hoot with those three names alone. Alas, I think only one word crossed all three of their minds when they signed on: Paycheck.
Rose Leslie stars as a young woman with ties in order to defeat a new batch of witches that are plaguing New York City.
There’s an overload of special effects in the movie, but the war between the witches and humanity could’ve been a lot more clearer and I kept waiting for the likes of Hellboy or Constantine to turn up and join Diesel on his crusade against these diabolical monsters.
I think there’s one problem: If you’re an immortal witch killer with centuries of experience in destroying creatures of this sort, aren’t you overdoing it a little just by using a partner or two? Shouldn’t your skills and arsenal alone be enough in the battle? I know that I am attempting to apply logic to a film that defies it.
The story is so unnecessarily convoluted and boring. The special effects are cheesy. The acting is so serious that these characters act as if this stuff could really happen. The Last Witch Hunter goes so far with its goofy, silly premise that it might have a future for either festivals for bad movies or even a Mystery Science Theater treatment.
Grade: D
(Rated PG-13 for sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images.)
