The Fast and the Furious series has made Vin Diesel a household name but as yet he’s not quite been able to parlay that reputation into a reliable slate of box office hits outside that automotive franchise and a few hits and misses with intergalactic felon Riddick.
The Last Witchunter sees Vin try to rectify this and set up a new, modern set, fantasy series at the same time.
Who wants to live forever?
Diesel pays Kaulder, a man from the generic dark ages who, along with similarly gruff, fur clad warriors is tasked with eliminating the Witch Queen(Julie Engelbrecht), who wants nothing more than to unleash a swarm of black plague flies to wipe out all of humanity for their modern non-eco-friendly ways.
Thankfully, despite the elimination of nearly his entire team in various gruesome ways, Kaulder manages to score a fatal blow against the Witch Queen but with her dying breath she curses him with eternal life, having realised that he has already lost everything he had to live for.
Cut to the modern day and Kaulder has softened his approach to witches somewhat, no longer killing them but instead protecting a secret truce between witches and humanity, only unleashing his 800 years worth of accumulated badassery on those witches who go rogue and try anything nefarious (like using magic on humans). He’s more the “Sheriff of Witch Town” rather than a “Witch Hunter”.
Forever Alone?
Aiding him in maintaining the peace is a council of witches and an order of priests, all called Dolan, whose lineage stretches back to that of the priest who initially accompanied him to the Witch Queen’s lair.
Apart from one unnecessary piece of narration, most of this basic set up is cleverly told though on screen action in the opening section of the film, with the story properly kicking off just as Kaulder’s old assistant and friend Dolan (Michael Caine) retires and his new one; Dolan (Elijah Wood), is sworn in, which just so happens to coincide with the appearance of a new supernatural threat to the truce, humanity and to Kaulder himself.
Undemanding fun
The Last Witch Hunter is a solid entry in the modern fantasy stable that includes films such as the Underworld series, with Diesel himself coming off as a modern mix of Dominic Torretto and Hellboy . It’s a competently told entry too, the plot managing to keep things fresh by slowly revealing Kaulder’s world and it’s rules through his interactions rather than through clunky exposition, introducing mysteries and betrayals along the way beside concepts such as Kaulder’s worth as a person versus his worth as the ultimate immortal deterrent.
Kaulder is no mopey immortal and this is still an action film but flourishes like this prevent the film becoming just another Buffy rip-off. The major failing of the script is that after the climax it falls prey to almost every single cliché in the book when it comes to setting up the sequels the studio so obviously hopes for.
Diesel, Caine and Wood all provide solid, if not very demanding, performances, particularly Caine who sparkles in his interactions with Diesel. Diesel pretty much plays Diesel, equal parts charming and menacing with Rose Leslie (Ygritte in Game of Thrones) providing a nice foil as young witch Chloe, who thankfully never gets romantically involved with Kaulder, despite some hints at a romantic dalliance between the two (and a 20 year age difference!).
Supernatural CSI
While ostensibly an action film, at times it can seem like a supernatural CSI as Kaulder and Rose investigate their antagonists ties to his past, chasing down MacGuffins, showing more of their world as they do so, but with a few fights along the way.
The Last Witchunter isn’t going to win any Oscars but it does perform as an adequate vehicle for Diesel’s charm and presence. It’s not half as cheesy as expected and is enjoyable in an undemanding way. It’s highly doubtful that this will launch another franchise for Diesel to rival The Fast and Furious but it’s definitely a fun ride.
The Last Witch Hunter is out in cinemas now.
Starring: Vin Diesel, Elijah Wood, Michael Caine and Rose Leslie
Directed by: Breck Eisner
Official Site here.
