Vin Diesel, crazy-ass witches and the backdrop of New York City, what’s not to like about fantasy horror action flick, The Last Witch Hunter. There’s nothing to think about, no taxing concepts to concern yourself with and very little in the way of fat, so for this DVD, Blu-ray and digital download release, it’s just a case of sitting back and enjoying the sheer unadulterated entertainment value of the film.
The story is a pretty simple tale of an ancient witch hunter who is cursed with immortality as he kills the vicious witch queen back in antiquity. He spends the rest history up until the modern day protecting humanity from the more nefarious portion of the magical community, but when a dark plot to resurrect the queen pierces his relatively easy run of things he must face his toughest challenge yet.
It makes for a strong premise for the film, setting things up well and delivering on a very enjoyable dark adventure. Vin Diesel (Guardians Of The Galaxy) works well as the eponymous witch hunter Kaulder, and while the random addition of his remarkable pulling technique is a bit surplus to requirements and lacking in any real substance, or smoking hot romance scenes, he does a lot to help make it work as well as it does.
The cast does a pretty good job of supporting him to bring the film to life with a stand out performance from Rosie Leslie (Game Of Thrones) as Chloe, his newfound dream walker witch friend as they take on the dark queen. Michael Caine (Kingsman: The Secret Service) and Elija Wood (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey) are pretty effective as Kaulder’s priestly collaborators, and Ólafur Darri Ólafsson and Julie Engelbrecht are severely sinister as warlock Belial and his Witch Queen. Isaach De Bankolé (The Limits Of Control) is a little wasted as Max Schlesinger, a relatively good warlock, but other than that there aren’t many faults you can aim at the cast.
More than anything else, The Last Witch Hunter is most memorable for the brilliance of its special effects, which crackle from the screen in impressive magnitude and granular clarity. They’re helped by a dark fantasy style to give the film a lot of visual delights, making it worth watching just for the SFX alone. New York hasn’t looked so creepy since the Ghostbusters lit up the night sky back in the eighties.
The action is pretty intense throughout the film, combing well with the CGI quality and decent performances from the cast. The fight sequences are well choreographed and when you throw in the dark magic that floods the screen throughout you’ve got a lot to enjoy.
The Last Witch Hunter is fun, fast-paced and darker than a hollow After Eight. It’s one of the best action films we’ve seen in a little while and it’s well worth a watch for anyone that wants to see Vin Diesel scrapping it out with a deadly witch queen and her own private army of darkness. It’s obviously a far-fetched fantasy outing, but it still manages to come across as being credible, which is no easy feat considering the content of the movie.
The Last Witch Hunter DVD review: 3.9/5
