The Last Witchhunter
Nov. 6th, 2015 12:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
redfiona99Which I'm not sure is witchhunter or witch hunter due to the stylized letters in the title. Spellcheck suggests it should be two words.
Anyway, The Last Witch Hunter is nonsense, but honest nonsense so I can't complain especially as it was filler while I waited for Crimson Peak. It's worth a watch if you've got an Unlimited card (or equivalent) but I'm not sure if it's worth paying for.
The film pretty much coasts by on Vin Diesel's likability so they're very lucky that he is indeed very likable.
They're also very lucky in getting Rose Leslie to play Chloe because she brings a fantastic mix of angry, scared, vulnerable and brave.
Michael Caine pretty much phones it in, but Michael Caine phoning it in is still better than most people trying so ...
I do love Kaulder calling him 'kid' though, because the film doesn't play it as ironic, it is just that to Kaulder he really is a kid and you can see that Kaulder will always remember him as the young Dolan he first knew.
Part of the reason the film falls flat is that it sometimes requires of Vin Diesel that he be a much better actor than he is (no diss on Diesel intended, I <3 him muchly but like all actors, he has his limitations). Sometimes the emotional heavy-lifting scenes work (like when he hugs Chloe or when he talks down the young witch at the start) but sometimes, they don't.
Elijah Wood is far more convincing as the ingenue than as the traitor, although his character's secret does stop a few of the plot holes being plot holes.
Their witch society interests me, which I think is a sign of how well done the world building is.
The ending is also interesting, in that it's blatant sequel bait, but there's also a hesitancy when Chloe says there are worse things out there, almost like she's lying, and obviously it's a different lie to the one the original Dolan told but that'd be a sequel I'd want to watch, one where Kaulder finds out she's lied to him (for all the best and most wonderful reasons) and what happens next. Not that I'm going to get that sequel, but it shows the characters are at least interesting.
Okay, so looking back on my comments, I may have enjoyed it more than it sounded. It's parts are better than it's some, but the parts are at least interesting.
Anyway, The Last Witch Hunter is nonsense, but honest nonsense so I can't complain especially as it was filler while I waited for Crimson Peak. It's worth a watch if you've got an Unlimited card (or equivalent) but I'm not sure if it's worth paying for.
The film pretty much coasts by on Vin Diesel's likability so they're very lucky that he is indeed very likable.
They're also very lucky in getting Rose Leslie to play Chloe because she brings a fantastic mix of angry, scared, vulnerable and brave.
Michael Caine pretty much phones it in, but Michael Caine phoning it in is still better than most people trying so ...
I do love Kaulder calling him 'kid' though, because the film doesn't play it as ironic, it is just that to Kaulder he really is a kid and you can see that Kaulder will always remember him as the young Dolan he first knew.
Part of the reason the film falls flat is that it sometimes requires of Vin Diesel that he be a much better actor than he is (no diss on Diesel intended, I <3 him muchly but like all actors, he has his limitations). Sometimes the emotional heavy-lifting scenes work (like when he hugs Chloe or when he talks down the young witch at the start) but sometimes, they don't.
Elijah Wood is far more convincing as the ingenue than as the traitor, although his character's secret does stop a few of the plot holes being plot holes.
Their witch society interests me, which I think is a sign of how well done the world building is.
The ending is also interesting, in that it's blatant sequel bait, but there's also a hesitancy when Chloe says there are worse things out there, almost like she's lying, and obviously it's a different lie to the one the original Dolan told but that'd be a sequel I'd want to watch, one where Kaulder finds out she's lied to him (for all the best and most wonderful reasons) and what happens next. Not that I'm going to get that sequel, but it shows the characters are at least interesting.
Okay, so looking back on my comments, I may have enjoyed it more than it sounded. It's parts are better than it's some, but the parts are at least interesting.
