Film Review: ‘The Last Witch Hunter’ at Least is Hilariously Awful

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Average: 5 (1 vote)

CHICAGO – You will see many many better movies this year, but you’re unlikely to see one quite this batshit crazy. I’ll give Vin Diesel this much credit, at least he’s created a memorably awful blockbuster instead of one that simply fades off into the moonlight.

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 1.5/5.0
Rating: 1.5/5.0

The filmmakers seem to have started with the image of Vin Diesel scowling while holding a large flaming sword, and then reverse engineered the story from there, no doubt trying to stifle chuckles all the way. After all, this is a movie that begins and ends with Diesel facing off in an epic battle against a tree – and that tree is more rooted in reality than anything else in this movie.

“The Last Witch Hunter” casts Diesel as a medieval warrior (looking like an oversized extra from Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit). He eventually thrusts his trusty flaming sword through a medieval witch, but as she dies she curses him with the gift of immortality. Fast forward to present day where Diesel is now a kind of witch hunting Sherlock Holmes, using the occasional spell to dust for witch prints, and putting a staple in a cup of water to track down a witch riding coach on an international flight.

In the movie witches are all around, but a fragile truce is in place. They keep their magic just below the surface and agree not to use it against humans. Meanwhile Diesel acts as the muscle, and uses a cover as a private investigator of a Church sect, devoted to keeping the peace and keeping witches underground.

”The Last Witch Hunter” opens everywhere on October 23rd. Featuring Vin Diesel, Michael Caine, Elijah Wood, Rose Leslie and Rena Owen. Written by Cory Goodman, Matt Sazama and Buck Sharpless. Directed by Breck Eisner. Rated “PG-13”

StarContinue reading for Spike Walter’s full review of “The Last Witch Hunter.”

Vin Diesel
Vin Diesel Contemplates His Weapon in ‘The Last Witch Hunter’
Photo credit: Summit Entertainment

StarContinue reading for Spike Walter’s full review of “The Last Witch Hunter.”

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