The Last Witch Hunter - Second Chance Cinema

Welcome to Second Chance Cinema where I talk about films considered bad or films I think were lost to time or buried that may not be the best but I think really do deserve a second look from people.

Recently while watching through some of the film "Backlog" as such I ended up watching a film that I'm actually pretty shocked just has never developed any kind of cult following over the years since its release.

The Last Witch Hunter is another film in the attempt to make Vin Diesel into a big iconic action star before studios basically gave up on that and tried to make him more of an ensemble cast franchise. In terms of US box office take the film with a $90 Million budget only made $27 Million in the USA and $146 Million world-wide.  Basically it's a flop but it being a flop really does shock me.

The Last Witch Hunter is a solid action movie and one of the times I can say Vin Diesel isn't the worst or least convincing actor in it. That dubious honour falls to Rose Leslie (likely better known for portraying Ygritte in Game of Thrones), quite why in this instance she was so bad I can only speculate and throw out either poor direction or just literally not having any chemistry at all with Vin Diesel. It's not like she's a bad actor, in Game of Thrones she was great and did well in the fairly obscure UK show Utopia, just this instance she is by far the worst. She spend the movie varying between looking bored and giving the most phoned in performance I've seen in a while with only the odd moment where she even seems to be trying in scenes. It really does feel like one of her worst performances coupled with oddly one of Vin Diesel's best performances. Though the best actor of the film goes to Michael Caine (The Italian Job) who they somehow got to be in this film.

All Images from IMDB and the header is modified from an IMDB one

Anyway enough about acting, the basic plot of the film is Vin Diesel plays Kaulder an knight cursed with immortality by the Witch Queen when he and a band of knights attacked her lair to try and end the black death (In the films world the black death having been created by the Witch Queen and her allies in revenge for what she sees as Humanities attacks on nature). Kaulder now in the present works as a Witch Hunter and is considered one of the top assets by the order of the axe and cross, a branch of the church dedicated to protecting humanity from harmful witches and warlocks.  In the 800 years since the death of the witch queen there has been a peace established between humanity and the witches with Kaulder being essentially enforcer of the peace and the Axe and Cross hosting the witch council who see to it practitioners of their craft don't break the rules of the truce by using their powers to harm humans. However when the 36th Dolan (played by Michael Caine) , who manages Kaulder affairs for the Axe and Cross, dies Kaulder and the 37th Dolan investigate and discover he was magically tortured. Recognising the magic used as being a kind not seen since the days of the witch queen Kaulder finds a number of clues left by the 36th Dolan hinting at some darker things going on.  Kaulder investigates while an ominous man with a beard causes chaos to stop him at one point setting fire to and smashing up a bar belonging to Chloe (Rose Leslie) whose a small time witch who ends up joining Kaulder attempts to get to the bottom of what's going on. I won't spoil to much other than to say it feels fairly formulaic,  so much so people familiar with story tropes will have the "Curse your sudden be inevitable betrayal" and "The all is lost moment" things basically pop up in their brain because of just how much things stick to a fairly established 3 act structure and narrative formula. The story does end with a minor hint about a possible sequel though in itself it is a self contained story only really leaving the door open a crack for a direction that it could have gone with future entries

Effects wise it holds up quite well with what I'm guessing is a mix of practical effects & make up along with CGI such that it does feel like it can compete even 4 years on from when it was first released.

It feels like a real shame that the film failed to find its audience at the time and as such was a comparative flop or at least not the huge success that was likely being hoped for by the studio. It's a bit of a shame really as it was a new property and not (that I'm aware of) based on an already established franchise or popular property. It feels like a different age of Hollywood really as so many films these days seem to be established franchises or IP that's had some success or is part of a larger successful brand.

If you're after a pretty good action film with some cool ideas that you can let wash over you then this very much is a film for you, it's fun and probably one of Vin Diesel's best performances to date. In my view this is a film that definitely deserves a second look by you.