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The Last Witch Hunter - Movie Review

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2 stars

There is an opportunity lost within The Last Witch Hunter, an opportunity to be much bigger in scope than it actually comes across as being.  You may enjoy the fantasy flick but you’ll have to sit through a lot of the humdrum before getting there.  This is slight entertainment for sure but everything about it suggests that the material COULD have been and SHOULD have been bigger AND better.  You’ve got Vin Diesel, flaming swords, ancient witchcraft, and all of that crashing together within New York City; tell me that can’t be truly entertaining!!! Unfortunately, it’s just not that good.

The Last Witch Hunter is recycled and relatively witless sorcery.  Whatever Dungeons and Dragons influence there once was that inspired the “epic” the movie suggests is soon forgotten by its makers.  No one asked for this supernatural hybrid of scares and action and the resulting fantasy flick - in spite of some pretty splashy special effects - fumbles in almost every way to create a necessary sense of purpose and, with baddies as severe as the one played by Olafur Darri Olafsson (his character is a warlock who aims to resurrect an ancient and very dreaded witch), this fact is truly disappointing.

The film’s producer, Vin Diesel, is also its star.  He is the immortality-cursed Kaulder, a noble witch-hunter and stopper of plagues, who finds his cleanly shaven face and dome back in action in the modern world in pursuit of black magic and witches who want to harm the whole of humanity.  Call it the Black Plague 2.0 courtesy of a rowdy bunch of witches and warlocks.  I’d still be with this flick conceptually if the film’s director, Breck Eisner, son of THAT former Disney CEO, could actually put an once of wit or genuine humor into this rather flat adventure.

We are informed that, after originally defeating the Witch Queen (Julie Engelbrecht), Kaulder is cursed.  He’s already the Catholic Church’s gun-for-hire.  Keep the world safe from everything that Hell hides is his task.  It’s an – at once – cool and unbelievable premise but, let’s go back a step, it’s still cool.  However, very little of that “Axe and Cross” swagger manages to resonate on the screen as Vin Diesel has only co-stars Elijah Wood and Rose Leslie to bounce ideas off of.  And, let’s be honest, Leslie’s “Hello, my name is Emma Stone” routine on display here is one of awkwardness that is a bit too much to swallow.  Too bad then for us that Michael Caine bites it so quickly.

A fantasy movie as vast as this one suggests (it’s trying to set up more movies, ya dig?) ought to have strong production values and that’s The Last Witch Hunter’s saving grace.  It does.  These values add up and, as weak as this outing is, suggests that future installments MIGHT be more exciting.  The damn thing – sets, effects, and all – looks damn impressive. If only the doctored script performed half as well when it matters most. Much of the look to the movie belongs in a pagan’s very bad and very dark nightmare; disturbing images are articulated here against Nicholas Brooks’ camerawork as he swoops and swirls inside a very disturbing lair that belongs to the Witch Queen.

Regrettably, too much of the film is as shallow as a rain puddle.  Could this be entertainment on a rainy Sunday afternoon?  Sure.  But that’s a pretty low bar.  Even still, there’s a glint of steely-eyed hope in some of the darker moments of The Last Witch Hunter that just might keep this one afloat past a week or two, but the sorcery spell it casts is far too easily broken.

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[tab title="Film Details"]

The Last Witch Hunter - Movie Review

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images.
Runtime:
106 mins
Director
: Breck Eisner
Writer:
Cory Goodman, Matt Sazama
Cast:
Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood
Genre
: Fantasy | Adventure
Tagline: 
Live forever. Hunt forever.
Memorable Movie Quote: "Do you know what it's like to live for ever?"
Distributor:
Summit Entertainment
Official Site: http://www.thelastwitchhunter.movie/
Release Date:
October 23, 2015
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
February 2, 2016
Synopsis: The last remaining witch hunter battles against an uprising of witches in modern day New York.

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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]

The Last Witch Hunter - Movie Review

Blu-ray

Blu-ray Details:

Available on Blu-ray - February 2, 2016
Screen Formats: 2.40:1
Subtitles
: English, English SDH, Spanish
Audio: DTS:X; English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit); English: DTS 2.0; Spanish: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; English: DTS Headphone:X
Discs: 50GB Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD); UV digital copy; iTunes digital copy; Digital copy; DVD copy
Region Encoding: A

Lionsgate Films turns out an impressive-looking 1080p transfer.  It is another release to highlight the visual capacity – especially concerning its handling of details – of the Arri Alexa digital camera.  Colors are muted but strong and, with shadows mounting in all directions, the lines never lose their edge.  There are special effects everywhere and the merging of practical and CGI elements are a seamless blend of just how spot-on digital filmmaking has become.  Sound duties are handled effectively by a robust DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 sound design.  There are sound elements everywhere in the highly immersive mix.

Supplements:

Commentary:

  • Breck Eisner provides the commentary.  It is detailed and to the point.  Definitely not frivolous and there are no big secrets revealed.

Special Features:

This release is fairly basic.  Kicking off with a standard 30-minute look at the making of the movie, the supplemental items offer a few nuggets of information concerning the film’s Dungeons and Dragons connections.  There’s really nothing to the items, though, and there’s a chance that fans of the movie won’t even pay them any attention.  There are also four mini-cartoons, all narrated by Michael Cane that cover the film’s backstory, and an extended trailer.

  • Crafting the Magic: The Last Witch Hunter (30 min)
  • Animated Short Films: The Origins of the Axe and Cross features a quartet of shorts narrated by Michael Caine (9 min)
  • The Last Witch Hunter Sizzle Reel/Paint It, Black (2 min)

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