The Last Witch Hunter

Title: The Last Witch Hunter (15)

Year: 2015

Running Time: 102 minutes

Director: Breck Eisner

Cast: Vin Diesel (Kaulder), Rose Leslie (Chloe), Elijah Wood (Dolan 37th), Michael Caine (Dolan 36th), Julie Engelbrecht (Witch Queen)

Notes: A sequel has been rumoured although the box office returns weren't massive and it was generally critically derided, so that may not happen.

Rating: 7

Thoughts:   In the modern era the Witch Hunter, a cursed immortal, searches the world for witches to kill.

What he doesn't know is that the Witch Queen, who made him immortal, is resurrected, seeking revenge and using her minions to destroy the world.

There's a little bit of the story based in a medieval setting, but the bulk of the film is in modern New York. Here we find Kaulder encountering a range of witches, not all of them irrepressibly evil.

As he travels around there is a reasonable amount of action which is unfortunately filmed in quite close up a lot of the time, making it a little difficult to follow. Yes, that's maybe realistic but not very visually exciting.

Diesel manages to find a softer side but his delivery still comes over as a little solid for me. He's not helped when he has to fence with Caine and Wood at different times, both much more adept at delivering a convincing line.

I do like that the magic used has a nature base, and there are other pleasing elements of lore in play. Also that witches have developed to be on "both sides" of the story is a nice touch.

But it does all end up being a little predictable in the end and I never really felt Kaulder was in real jeopardy.