![]() ![]() Now Kauder visits the witch Chloe (Rose Leslie), who owns a witch bar, to seek her help to recall his own death following clues left by Dolan 36th. Further, he finds that Dolan 36th is still alive under a powerful spell. Kauder goes to his apartment with Dolan 37th (Elijah Wood) to investigate his death and finds black magic in the spot. ![]() On the same day of his retirement, Dolan 36th dies alone in his apartment. The priest Dolan 36th (Michael Caine) is the liaison between The Axe and Cross and Kauder, giving support and keeping the record of his life. The witch hunter Kauder and The Axe and Cross that judges and imprisons witches in the darkness are the responsible for keeping the world in peace. ![]() Eight hundred years later, there is a balance in the world and the witches live peacefully among humans. The Witch Queen curses Kaulder with eternal life to make him suffer the loss of his wife and daughter for the eternity. In the Middle Ages, the witch hunter Kaulder (Vin Diesel) hunts down the Witch Queen (Julie Engelbrecht) with the inhabitants of towns devastated by the black plague that she had spread. I actually found the world of the Last Witch Hunter somewhat intriguing and enjoyable. I didn't have trouble with the pacing or story confusion as other reviewers did. I saw this at a preview screening and there wasn't much crowd reaction, however it should be noted that the film kept my (very) jaded interest throughout. The "dream" visions were nice, but then they usually are. As for the directing, besides the poor action and annoying flares, it was competent but not particularly memorable. For me, she was the highlight acting-wise and elevated everything up a dramatic notch. Surrounding the more-emotional-than-usual Diesel, there's actually a pretty decent cast including Michael Caine (always classy), Elijah Wood (amusing and solid) and Rose Leslie, that redhead wild woman from Game of Thrones. So don't go in expecting to be thrilled too much by the quality of the action. Thankfully, it's never as bad as in that first fight in the past, and it does get better as the film goes on. I know that close-in fighting is supposed to be messy and chaotic but the cuts here were sometimes so poorly done I had trouble knowing what was happening. Unfortunately, I found the action scenes somewhat weak in general. There was visual stuff there I hadn't actually seen before or at least a dozen times over. I also liked the design of the old witches and that bone sentinel. One of the neatest places was that bar with the subtle light magic. The special effects were rather good and I especially liked how the magic was so nature-oriented (as it should be for witches). As far as story goes, despite the seemingly cliché setup, I'd say it was stronger than usual for that kind of supernatural-action film with a few good twists I didn't see coming. After that Middle-Ages intro, I thought all the witches would be evil, despicable, one-dimensional creatures (which would have been boring) but then again, I was fooled as we actually delved more into the modern witch community. In fact, on more than one occasion, his hero actually showed restraint and compassion, which was quite refreshing. I was pleasantly surprised to find Vin Diesel more smiling and "human" than usual. One would think that Kaulder would be a stereotypical stoic, somber, asocial killing machine, but such is not quite the case. We have Vin Diesel's character, Kaulder, a man who lost his family due to witches, still alive after 800 years and still hunting them. Besides short segments taking place in the Middle Ages and another on a plane, this supernatural flick takes place in modern New York.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |