The Last Witch Hunter

10/25/2015

There was a time when the movie gods were treating audiences to the omnipresence of zombies. One could not swing a dead cat without running into zombie-related cinema. It was all the rage at the box office that was experiencing a certain celluloid renaissance with overloading narratives within the “zombie zone”. Sure, zombies are still the norm in pop cultural media on both the big and small screen (anybody not heard of “The Walking Dead”?). However, another iconic horror-induced symbol–the witch–is making its way back into prominence in the cinema circles. Unfortunately, the “twitch of the witch” is explored in an over-the-top, messy and misplaced CGI-coated production of the outlandish The Last Witch Hunter. So there are a number of reasons why the whimsical wasteland The Last Witch H

9/1/2016

> Fighting the same witch twice in the 800 years! I have seen Vin Diesel in many avatars, from the sci-fi to action, adventure and thriller, they all suits him better, but this supernatural theme seems weird. There was lots of action, so it does not feel like a fantasy film, which is merely the idea of film concept. From the director of 'Sahara', the story of an cursed with eternal life witch hunter named Kaulder. Except the opening, the remaining film sets in the present New York city where he has to stop a witch who is trying to bring back the witch queen from the dead. It was just another those films where the ancient meets the modern world. Okay, I agree a few films did impacted from the last two decades since the evolution of the CGI. Even though, they were not considered the gr

9/2/2016

**The initial tableaux:** **Initial, part I**: We're in the black plague era in Europe, say 13th century. The spread of the plague is attributed to the spellcasting of evil witches. Vin Diesel's character, Kaulder, is one of the witch hunters who finds the Witch Queen. Kaulder and company put an end to the plague, but at the cost of Kaulder's wife, his only child, and most of his hunter friends. While dying, the Witch Queen curses Kaulder. **Initial, part II**: In current New York City, Kaulder is still hunting witches. Yes, the same Kaulder. He's allied with an old group within the church, the Axe and Cross, which tries and imprisons witches. They also keep secrets. Kaulder's main contact with Axe and Cross is Dolan the 36th, played by Michael Caine, in one of those short r

10/4/2018

Arguably the coolest poster a movie's ever had. Vin & Co. lay the cheese on **thick** in this one. I'm talking slab of fried haloumi thick. But that's not exactly the end of the world. It's kind of like if _Constantine_ was way worse, or if _Seventh Son_ was way better. With a little 2004's _Van Helsing_ thrown in for good measure. _Final rating:★★½ - Had a lot that appealed to me, didn’t quite work as a whole._

3/31/2019

You cling to your pathetic life, those closest to you betray you and those you claim to protect don't even know your name. Hmm, okies. It feels like the studio execs sat around the big table and thought here's Vin Diesel lets build a boisterous popcorn franchise setting piece around him. Plot has Diesel as the title character who here in the modern world is all that stands between humanity and the combined forces of the deadliest witches in history. Cue lots of crash bang and wallop, digital blitzkrieg and Vin with a glint in his eye in spite of not having the emotional paths required for the role. In support are Elijah Wood, Michael Caine and Rose Leslie, all of whom arguably come under the miscast banner. There's some smart ideas at the film's core, the nightmares and dreamscap

5/2/2019

***Pedestrian horror sorta-superhero starring Vin Diesel*** An 800 year-old immortal Witch Hunter (Vin Diesel) now lives in swank New York City, still hunting malevolent witches with the help of two priests, an aged one (Michael Caine) and a novice (Elijah Wood). Rose Leslie plays a winsome witch with mettle while Ólafur Darri Ólafsson is on hand as a formidable evil warlock. I thought I’d like "The Last Witch Hunter" (2015) since it mixes “End of Days” (1999) with “Van Helsing” (2004) and elements of “Ghost Rider” (2007) and “The Mummy” (1999) but, while Vin Diesel towers in the lead role, the story is meh. The overblown intro with its CGI-laden witch grotto sequence wasn’t a good first impression. By the halfway mark I wanted to turn it off, but I persevered. Everything is here