Flat, uninspired and derivative. Once the narration starts you begin to think what possessed Michael Caine to phone in his performance.

A big fat cheque I presume will be his answer.

Vin Diesel is out of gas as the 800 year old immortal witch hunter Kaulder. Made immortal by a curse from the witch queen.

In the modern day, there is peace between the witches and the church. Co-existence that is about to be shattered.

The priest Dolan 36th (Michael Caine) who is Kaulder's assistant and liaison with the church has retired. To be replaced by Dolan 37th (Elijah Wood) who once met Kaulder.

Now someone is attacking Kaulder, someone with power and a grudge.

There is little magic here just a bigger budget and more noise. The story is plodding, a major twist does not come as a surprise.

At least there are some nice action scenes, a bit of humour but so many underwritten characters.

THE LAST WITCH HUNTER is yet another bland and soulless Hollywood blockbuster CGI adventure that looks and feels exactly like SEASON OF THE WITCH, RIPD, MEN IN BLACK, plus at least a dozen others released in the last decade. I think it's a real shame that these films have no distinctiveness or visual style over their own, which renders them instantly forgettable to the viewer.

The hulking but oddly bland Vin Diesel stars as an immortal witch hunter who goes around dispatching evil witches with the aid of priest Elijah Wood (wasted in an under-written part). Eventually he comes up against an age-old evil and soon a battle commences which is packed with the usual CGI action: it looks pretty but artificial, lacking depth and believability. Even worse, the child-friendly certificate means that this film's attempts to be genuinely scary fall by the wayside. Imagine this as a hard adult horror packed with violence and gore, and you might have something halfway decent.

Films like THE LAST WITCH HUNTER aren't inherently bad, it's just their lack of originality and their contentedness to copy what's come before that gets to me. The most interesting thing about this production are the supporting cast members: Icelandic actor Olafur Darri Olafsson is full of gravitas, Rose Leslie oddly appealing, Joseph Gilgun briefly crazy, Michael Caine typically steadfast, and Julie Engelbrecht makes for the single decent CGI effect. The rest is just loud noise and nonsense that you'll happily forget about mere moments after watching.

In the middle ages, Kaulder (Vin Diesel) and other witch hunters attack the Witch Queen. He's cursed by her with eternal life. In the modern world, he has been a witch hunter for 800 years policing a truce between witches and the church. The 36th Dolan (Michael Caine) is elderly and the 37th Dolan (Elijah Wood) is preparing to take over. A Dolan is a priest who keeps Kaulder's records and is his handler. 36th is murdered by a darker mysterious witch. Kaulder is reluctantly joined by witch Chloe (Rose Leslie).

This is not a slam against Vin Diesel. He does what he does very well. This is not what he does. This seems to be a darker and more mysterious character. He's not a nuanced actor. The witchcraft battles are interesting at times but also confusing at other times. I have nothing against Vin Diesel trying to stretch his wings but he's unable to make this one fly.