Movie Crush Monday: CT & The Last Witch Hunter

Readers, there are a few things that I cannot resist, no matter what. The first of those is a big, flashy, shiny fantasy movie. There are a few that come out each year, and nine times out of ten they're awful (looking at you, Seventh Son). But I go to see them every time, because that one time out of ten they're so awesome that I cannot shut up about them for days.

The other thing I cannot resist? Vin Diesel. The man is perfect, nerdy, muscly perfection and I will see anything he does, even the awful ones.

That all brings us to our Movie Crush this week. It was the fantasy film that I absolutely loved this year, and it starred my (alway) man crush doing all the nerdy, muscly things that we love him for. That movie is....
VIN DIESEL TWO WAAAAAYS!!!

There's an art to these fantasy movies, and it always, always comes down to the world-building. If the world is solid, you can get away with an awful lot story-wise. It's why we loved Jupiter Ascending despite its story flaws, and why we hated the Seventh Son even though its story was pretty simple and easy to follow. You set up a world, you make the rules, and you have to follow them whatever they are. And to top it all off, the world has to be interesting, and cool, and filled with characters that we're interested in.

THIS is what worked so well about The Last Witch Hunter. It's a crazy concept: Vin Diesel plays a viking who tried to get rid of the witch that killed all his people and gets cursed by her with immortality. Fast forward to the present where he has spent the last few centuries hunting down witches that don't play by the rules and turning them in or ending them. Now that original witch is back and she is not screwing around.

But outside of the craziness of the concept, I just wanted to spend about a year playing inside the world. The writers put together a complex, layered world that genuinely felt like it had been around for centuries. It had corners and back alleys and all I could think about while I was watching the movie is how much stuff was going on in this world when the movie plot wasn't happening. I want fifteen more movies just so we can see some of it.

I guess my point is this- yes, some of the fantasy films that come out are dumb. They meander around and break their own rules. But this one is a gem, Between Viking Vin Diesel and how pretty the damn thing is, everyone should just go watch it immediately. Besides, did I mention the flaming sword??
You win, Vin Diesel. You have my heart. 


Happy Watching!
CT

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