Vin Diesel stars as Kaulder, a sad father cursed* with immortality* by the Witch Queen (Julie Engelbrecht) who unleashed* the Black Death on mankind in the Middle Ages, killing his wife and daughter.

    Fast forward 800 years to present-day New York and Kaulder is now a witch hunter working for an organization called the Axe and Cross, which appears to be a secret wing of the Catholic church. Think “Men In Black,” but scripted by Dan Brown. Though a fragile* truce* keeps most witches from meddling in* human affairs, some still break the rules.

    The contemporary storyline begins with the sudden death of Kaulder’s longtime friend and mentor Dolan the 36th, played by Michael Caine. After finding evidence of black magic, the witch hunter teams up with Dolan’s young successor Dolan the 37th (Elijah Wood) and good white witch Chloe (Rose Leslie) in a race against time to track down a powerful Nordic warlock* called Belial (Olafur Darri Olafsson) who plans to bring the Witch Queen back to life and unleash a new global plague*. Thus the stage is set for a second showdown between Kaulder and his evil enemy.

    In its favor, “The Last Witch Hunter” boasts some terrific production design and digital effects, notably the Witch Queen’s lair* and a creature called the Sentinel, both nightmarish pagan constructions of shape-shifting wood and bone.

    A couple of late plot twists also feel refreshingly left-field*, even if they are signposts for future sequels. Less impressively, director Breck Eisner’s movie is clogged with cardboard characters, flat dialogue and a slow middle act that gets lost in witchy folklore. Steve Jablonsky’s ever-present orchestral score also grates on the nerves before long. 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.

    (SD-Agencies)