By: Shannon Page

Vin Diesel (Fast & Furious 6, Guardians of the Galaxy) carries most of the weight in The Last Witch Hunter, director Breck Eisner’s fantasy-thriller about a medieval warrior (Diesel) cursed with immortality and locked in an eight-hundred year battle against evil magical forces bent on the destruction of humanity.

Diesel’s wooden performance does nothing to distract from the fact that the script is tired and obvious, but even the most worn-out premises have the potential to deliver well-constructed, mindlessly enjoyable escapism.  The main problem with The Last Witch Hunter isn’t its lack of originality.  It is the film’s inability to commit to doing one thing and do it well.

Rather than build an immersive fantasy world that the audience can lose themselves in and learn about naturally as the film progresses, The Last Witch Hunter gets bogged down in its own convoluted mythology and awkwardly obvious moments of exposition.   The action sequences are visually unremarkable despite the clearly generous effects budget that the filmmakers had at their disposal.  Eisner doesn’t seem concerned with building suspense or playing with tension;  Diesel’s character is able to conquer each challenge with far too much ease for it to feel as though there is all that much at stake.

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Shannon Page: @ShannonEvePage