The Last Witch Hunter 2015

Critics score:
16 / 100

Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes

Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times: The screenplay by a trio of writers is muddled and goofy and riddled with cliches. Read more

Alex Pappademas, Grantland: A feature film that feels like a longish TV pilot. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: The movie left me amazed - amazed that Nicolas Cage wasn't in it. Read more

Guy Lodge, Variety: Too drab to succeed even as defiantly unvirtuous trash ... stifles Diesel's rough-hewn charisma via a sludgy, impermeable oil spill of CGI effects - in the service of largely unspectacular hocus pocus. Read more

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, AV Club: The Last Witch Hunter ends up crumbling into another generic showdown of murky fantasy effects and snatched artifacts, with a final shot that is literally framed around a door to possible sequels. Read more

Tom Russo, Boston Globe: Even with Diesel's oblivious self-miscasting - he's a producer on the film - "Witch Hunter" feels like genre material that might have found a way to work. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: The special effects are pretty neat, and the filmmakers utilize them smartly, delivering imaginative set pieces that are more visually compelling than the usual series of digital explosions. Read more

Kyle Anderson, Entertainment Weekly: The only thing The Last Witch Hunter will successfully eradicate is insomnia. Read more

Stephen Dalton, Hollywood Reporter: Fast and furious on the surface, shallow and conventional beneath, Diesel's bid to carve himself another billion-dollar franchise is off to a good start with this mainstream crowd-pleaser. Read more

Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: One of those artlessly restless, exposition-dialogue fantasy-action slogs ... Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: The dependable Diesel and a fine cast keep this hokey action flick mostly entertaining. Read more

Andrew Lapin, NPR: Some action heroes take themselves too seriously, or think they're making popcorn fun when they're really filleting us with endless rounds of ammunition. Not Diesel ... Read more

Andy Webster, New York Times: A smorgasbord of empty calories, the Vin Diesel vehicle "The Last Witch Hunter," for all its overstuffed visuals, leaves you hungry. But not for more. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Unfortunately, a film needs more than Diesel's Stallone-ish appeal to succeed and that's where The Last Witch Hunter is found lacking. Read more

Soren Anderson, Seattle Times: It's the kind of roller-coaster Hollywood churns out seemingly in its sleep, oversaturated with effects shots and plot implausibilities. Ten minutes after you've seen it, you'll have forgotten all about it. Read more

Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle: You ... have to swallow a by-the-numbers plot buried under an avalanche of fast-and-furious but underwhelming CGI effects. Read more

Manori Ravindran, Globe and Mail: Seemingly at every juncture, the finality so necessary to up the stakes of this story is quickly snatched away in order to tease a sequel or two, leaving you wondering what the point of this supernatural exercise was in the first place. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: The Last Witch Hunter is so drenched in CGI effects, it looks as if it's been dunked in a vat of lacquer. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: What an ugly, idiotic mess this is. Read more

Bruce Kirkland, Toronto Sun: It is not even bad enough to be good camp comedy. Read more

Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice: Vin Diesel may not run smoothly, but he runs with purpose and conviction, and any line of dialogue processed through him comes out sounding like he believes it, even the sentimental ones. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: Watching The Last Witch Hunter is like sitting by while someone else plays a game whose coolness eludes us. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: The special-effects-laden fight scenes are ho-hum, incoherent and badly lit. It's often hard to tell what some warlock or scorpion-like beast is doing and to whom. Read more

Inkoo Kang, TheWrap: "The Last Witch Hunter" aims for pulpy, comic-book fun, but it's never as fleet, funny, or detailed as it needs to be. If you're looking for something above middling in terms of plot, characters, [or] world-building, you'll need to seek it elsewhere. Read more