The Last Witch Hunter review

An immortal warrior comes face to face with a terrible evil.

Did you know that in real life, Vin Diesel is a big time Dungeons & Dragons fan? Well now he’s got to play a character ripped right from that world.

He’s Kaulder, a man who is immortal. A man who has seen it all. A man who is bald. He’s been around for centuries, working with a clandestine organisation to keep the witchy folk of the world in line, and thus maintain the delicate balance between nature and the supernatural.

The Last Witch Hunter gets points in my mind just for being a fantasy film, something we see very little of at multiplexes these days. And director Breck Eisner has conjured up an attractive looking blockbuster with some fun creature designs and a world which seems to have some kind of depth to it.

Then there’s Vin Diesel, playing Vin Diesel. Look he’s been around for almost 20 years now – you’re either on board with his particular thing by now or you never will be. He’s hulking, a little stiff and sounds like he chews ball bearings for breakfast. Mostly he reminds me of a charming, monosyllabic potato, there’s just something likeable about him.

The man also has a loyal fan following which should help to bring in a decent crowd for the first weekend. So what are they going to tell their friends? Well The Last Witch Hunter is fine. It has some decent monsters, doesn’t get too tied up in itself and the supporting cast it fairly watchable.

It’s much more about the fantasy than the action, despite how it may look from the trailer. Diesel doesn’t do a whole lot of fighting before the finale, which makes the pacing oddly slow. Some more supernatural spats would have been a big improvement.

There’s also a reliance of all kinds of arcane nonsense, which is hardly surprising but there’s no sense of what anything does or why it works and the magic is attempting to be somewhat grounded (with Wiccan elements in play) but it still feels underdeveloped.

I’m also pretty sure we were supposed to be rooting for Diesel and Rose Leslie’s taglong witch to get together, but there’s zero chemistry. I would have believed a liaison between Vin D and Michael Caine more.

The Last Witch Hunter wants to position itself as the start of a new franchise but I can’t see that happening, mostly because it already feels a little limp and leaden after a single entry. It’s Diesel’s show, and if that’s what you’re interested in it’s a fun enough ride.

2.5/5 -Daniel Anderson