The Last Witch Hunter

HERE’S yet another movie that goes into the ‘could have been so much better’ list. Still, with leading man Diesel playing an immortal witch-slayer, that might attract viewers to the film.

In the Dark Ages, a group of warriors joins a priest called Dolan to kill the powerful Witch Queen who had unleashed the Black Plague that killed thousands. During a skirmish in her lair, Kaulder (Diesel) managed to plunge his sword into her but, before she died, she cursed him with immortality.

Centuries later, Kaulder still hunts witches for a secret organisation called The Order of Axe and The Cross. His handler is the 36th Dolan (Sir Michael Caine) whom he shares a deep friendship with.

There now exists a truce between witches and the order but there are a few witches out there who flaunt the rules every now and then. And this is when Kaulder steps in.

When the 36th Dolan is found dead, he is replaced by the 37th Dolan (Wood), a wideeyed much younger priest who is in awe of Kaulder. However, when Kaulder is in his old friend’s home, he realises that witchcraft has been used and the old Dolan is not dead but cursed to appear that way.

Based on clues the old Dolan left behind, Kaulder realises that he needs to remember something that took place in his past to stop something terrible that is about to happen.

In order to do that, he seeks out a bar owner cum witch called Chloe (Leslie), and ends up working together with her to put an end to a greater evil.

There are many holes in the plot and, at times, it seems to meander off unnecessarily.

Diesel doesn’t even attempt to act, preferring to growl out a few one-liners and go through the motions of being a weapon for the Order. If you can overlook all the shortcomings of the plot, you might just enjoy this film.