Vin Diesel retains his reputation in “The Last Witch Hunter,” which hit theaters Oct. 23.
“The Last Witch Hunter” is an action and fantasy film starring Vin Diesel as Kaulder, a witch hunter who has been cursed with immortality by the Witch Queen. For 800 years, Kaulder serves as peace-keeper to keep the amity between witches and humans.
Kaulder’s handler and friend is the 36th priest, called a Dolan, played by Michael Caine. He plans to retire and selects a new Dolan to take his place (Elijah Wood). When the 36th Dolan dies in his sleep that night, suspicious circumstances lead characters to believe a witch murdered him.
With the curse of the 36th Dolan, the peace between the humans and witches has been broken, and the Witch Queen has been resurrected. Kaulder, along with the help of the 37th Dolan, must find and stop her in a battle that will decide the survival of the human race.
The 48-year-old actor does not miss a beat in the action role of Kaulder, and the 106-minute movie supplies the perfect mix of action and dialogue.
The romantic side of the movie is pretty predictable though — because of the cheesy lines and clichéd interactions between Kaulder and Chloe, the witch bar owner, the love interest is no secret.
It is also this romance throughout the movie that gives “The Last Witch Hunter” its humanistic side. In a movie littered with fantasy and black magic, it is nice to experience a human romance from the only real couple in the movie.
One downfall of this movie, however, is the predictability of the plot. The romance, battles, enemies and twists are, for the most part, pretty blunt and predictable if the audience has seen any action or science fiction/fantasy movie in the past 30 years. The action and the final battle give the movie some leeway with the plot, but there are many romantic, dialogue and protagonist clichés in this film. The movie is obviously just a new dog with the same old tricks.
Overall, “The Last Witch Hunter” is worth seeing. The action and fantasy overpowers the predictability and cheesy dialogue for a quality Vin Diesel film.