I’m also glad that the rest of the cast is in on the joke that is, let’s face it, the movie in general. It’s also refreshing to see him portray an immortal who isn’t haunted or grim about his long life, but is actually rather humorous and tech-savvy. Diesel gets saddled with a lot of exposition as he lays out how this world works, but at least he looks like he’s having a good time doing it. Indeed, what would typically prevent me from calling “bullshit” on something like this or BUFFY (with their convenient spells for every eventuality, “demons of the week” or loophole prophecies that have never been mentioned before now) is the earnestness that the players present.
And, much like BUFFY, the movie plays fast and loose with its world-building without losing its sense of self-aware whimsy. He’s really more of a “witch detective.” Then again, TV’s BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER wasn’t limited to just vampire slaying, so I’ll give this dude a pass. It’s up to Kaulder, Caine’s successor the 37th Dolan (Elijah Wood, LORD OF THE RINGS) and a witch bartender named Chloe (Rose Leslie, GAME OF THRONES) to unravel the mystery and, as expected, save the world from ultimate evil.Īs I mentioned before, the title of “witch hunter” isn’t necessarily accurate for Kaulder as he spends most of the movie piecing clues together, having hallucinations of his past to find clues or explaining the ever-growing list of rules for this world to Chloe and Dolan 37 in order to, you guessed it, search for clues. Of course, the truce is about to become undone when we step into the story as Kaulder’s sidekick, a guy from a long line of loyal priests called the 36th Dolan (Michael Caine, KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE), is apparently murdered by dark magic. 800 years or so go by and present day Kaulder is the titular “witch hunter” (who, barely does any witch hunting in the movie) for the sacred Order of the Axe & Cross that maintains an uneasy truce between humanity and magic folk. By no means is THE LAST WITCH HUNTER what we typically would define as “good,” but at least I didn’t regret seeing it.ĭiesel plays Kaulder, a warrior from the Middle Ages cursed with immortality after slaying the evil Witch Queen who caused the original Black Plague. Thankfully, this film worked out pretty well for me this time around in that regard. At worst…you get unbearably boring and depressing dreck like SEVENTH SON or FANTASTIC FOUR. At best, you’re hoping to be momentarily entertained by dazzling visuals, thrilling action or (in my case) a good chuckle at how monumentally dumb-yet-earnest the whole experience is playing out.
In all seriousness, if you’re going into a Vin Diesel-starring vehicle with such an on-the-nose title as THE LAST WITCH HUNTER, you’re not expecting Shakespeare or CITIZEN KANE.
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