The Last Witch Hunter

Vampire Owl :: This could really be a movie about the Lich Queen.

Vampire Bat :: What? No, there is no lich here; only the common witches are in this movie.

Vampire Owl :: Well, you are underestimating her; she is everywhere.

Vampire Bat :: Dude, her definition of everywhere doesn’t include the movies.

Vampire Owl :: Okay, that guess didn’t work that well.

Vampire Bat :: And making a witch movie is always easier than making a lich movie.

Vampire Owl :: Just like making Season of the Witch.

Vampire Bat :: Do you know that the easiest thing to do with a witch story is to link it to the plague?

Vampire Owl :: How can I know? I wasn’t there at that time of the plague.

Vampire Bat :: Just watch the movie, will you?

[Gets three cups of tea with banana chips].

What is it about? :: Kaulder (Vin Diesel) is a witch hunter from the medieval age who is known to have slain a Witch Queen (Julie Engelbrecht) – a remorseless creature from the dark side which was responsible for spreading a plague in an attempt to destroy the whole humanity. Cursed with eternal life after losing his family, centuries later, he works as a veteran witch hunter for a secret group known as the Axe and Cross, which aims to keep the order at the right place concerning witches and humans. Any use of magic against humans is forbidden, and the witches will be imprisoned in that case. He is feared by all witches around the globe, and is aided by a man appointed as the 36th Dolan (Michael Caine) in his work against evil.

So what happens next? :: But as his old friend Dolan 36 is murdered and a new partner Dolan 37 (Elijah Wood) is appointed, Kaulder goes on the search for the strange dark magic which is responsible for the fate of his old friend who is caught in a curse rather than the suspected death. He attempts to use the help of a witch, Chloe (Rose Leslie) to restore his memories about his death and return to life, but is attacked by Ketola (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson), a powerful witch. Both escape and gets back to the mission together, only to find that all these were planned by the Witch Queen and her minions to make sure that she can return to this land many years later and finish what she had started – the annihilation of all humans for a better world.

And then to the present :: They try to create new potions with resources from Miranda (Aimee Carrero), but she is also murdered as the witches seem to be one step ahead of them all the time. They seek help from another witch Danique (Dawn Olivieri), but she only tries to finish him off, but Chloe who is a dream walker, saves him from the side-effects of the drug which he has. With the use of ancient dark magic, the witches seems to get stronger, and the return of the powerful Witch Queen is only supposed to make things terrible and beyond control. The future of humanity rests on the last witch hunter. With such enormous evil ready to return, can Kaulder stand ground and defeat the returning witch?

The defence of The Last Witch Hunter :: The basic idea of this movie might be predictable, but is nicely worked out with Vin Diesel stealing the show as the immortal hunter of witches. There are signs of some smart ideas here and there as we go through the movie. The special effects are nice, and there are some fine visuals for sure. There are some nice detail with the creature known as Sentinel, and also with the Witch Queen as well as her lair. The presence of Rose Leslie of Game of Thrones fame makes things better, as she is that kind of an actress who can make fine impact even the story is not really going that well. The Last Witch Hunter does try to be different even though not completely succeeding in the same – but it succesfully becomes an interesting one.

The claws of flaw :: There was always more to have done with this particular story, as it is often confused about how to make things better – the premise was so good here, but not fully utilized to its advantage. A huge battle between the witch hunter and the large number of witches was supposed to happen, but nothing like that could really get going. There was also the opportunity to show so much of magic, and the spells could have made things more enjoyable. The return of Witch Queen could have also been something that could cause more massive devastation, but here when that comes, it is just about the witch hunter, the dream walker and those restricted battles – it is more like rushed towards that end.

How it finishes :: One has to wonder if this movie could have used Rose Leslie’s character better, as she is a dream walker witch here; there could have been even more fight scenes along with the magic – we can never stop asking for more from this movie. When trying to bring a world which looks so good with the special effects, maybe if this movie had focused more on making the plot bigger and smarter with better assertion on the evil that the queen brings with a lot of magic, this one could have achieved better at the box-office as well as with the critics. But as of now, it is still an interesting movie which works as an action-fantasy flick with Vin Diesel going strong at the centre.

Release date: 23rd October 2015
Running time: 106 minutes
Directed by: Breck Eisner
Starring: Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Julie Engelbrecht, Michael Caine, Rena Owen, Isaach De Bankolé, Lotte Verbeek, Dawn Olivieri, Inbar Lavi, Aimee Carrero, Bex Taylor-Klaus, Allegra Carpenter, Kurt Angle, Joe Gilgun