The Last Witch Hunter review: Vin Diesel fantasy is like Harry Potter pumped on steroids

Imagine a parallel universe where Harry Potter got pumped up on steroids and you'll have an idea of what to expect from The Last Witch Hunter. Vin Diesel is the unfortunate soul charged with banishing wicked witchery from the world, the kind of man you'd want on your side in a bar fight with supernatural heavies - as opposed to a small British schoolboy.

Like most Vin Diesel films, this lacks wit and subtlety, going full-throttle instead on action thrills. But also like most Vin Diesel movies, this is perfectly likeable nonsense - only this time with flaming swords, instead of smouldering tyres.

Adrenaline and what looks like molten lava start coursing as early as scene one, which sees the moment Kaulder (Diesel) is made immortal by the Witch Queen (a latex-encased Julie Engelbrecht) while he drives a fiery sword through her body.

As evil curses go, living forever doesn't seem bad, but 800 years later - and even after joining the mile-high club - Kaulder is miserable. And will tell anyone who'll listen that he has been around a very long time and seen many things - many terrible, terrible things. (This is not the man you want sitting next to you on a long-haul flight.)

Michael Caine is 'Dolan the 36th', who has endured Kaulder's moping for the last half-century - a riff on his previous role as Batman's butler Alfred - having been obliged to do so by the secret order of priests to which he belongs. He's very quickly bumped off, at which point you may wonder why Caine took this role, except that he gets to kip through subsequent scenes for what was probably a large pay cheque.

The rest of the money is on screen as Kaulder - convinced that he can resurrect Dolan and shake off his annoying successor, Dolan No. 37 (Elijah Wood) - tracks the killer through supernatural landscapes.

The dark world that exists alongside ours is conjured in vivid style by director Breck Eisner (The Crazies) and when Kaulder teams up with 'good witch' Chloe (Rose Leslie of Game of Thrones, in perky form) there's more scope for exploring that.

Chloe is a 'dream walker' able to investigate the hidden corners of people's minds, and it's this service that Kaulder requires to save humanity from the return of the Witch Queen (having put a mental block on their last encounter). It's just as well that Eisner has a bit of visual flair and a feel for pace because Diesel isn't the type of actor who can dig deep to tackle psychological demons.

As usual, the Fast and the Furious star makes an impression just by throwing his considerable weight around and, with that baritone voice, it's no wonder the villains tremble. At the same time there's an underlying gentleness to Diesel (although nobody would say that to his face) which adds an extra note of intrigue to the tough guy persona and means he can carry a film from the centre of every scene.

He squares up well against the CGI baddies in efficient - though not quite breathtaking - fight scenes. The dialogue occasionally clunks, but cheeky wisecracks are, wisely, kept to a minimum. Eisner doesn't take the end of the world too seriously and neither should you. Because like the best kind of magic, this is fun for a while then - pouf! - it will vanish entirely from your memory.

3

Director: Breck Eisner; Screenwriters: Cory Goodman, Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless; Starring: Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood, Michaal Caine; Running time: 106 mins; Certificate: 12A