The Last Witch Hunter **
Starring: Dir: Breck Eisner
Starring: Vin Diesel, Michael Caine, Elijah Wood, Rose Leslie, Julie Engelbrecht, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson

Vin Diesel already has two ongoing franchises under his belt - The Fast And Furious movies and the Riddick films - but he obviously wants a third as well. So we get The Last Witch Hunter, a supernatural action thriller about an 800 year old immortal, Kaulder (Diesel) who keeps the world safe from harm from all those creepy crawly things that go bump in the night. Kaulder works for the Axe and Cross, an MI:6 for the Catholic Church, making him the James Bond of the supernatural set, complete with an expensive, cool car. He also has a minder in the Dolan (Michael Caine in Alfred - from the Batman movies - mode). Things start to go a bit awry, however, and Kaulder finds himself allied with a new and younger Dolan (Elijah Wood) and a not-so evil witch (Rose Leslie, Ygritte from Game Of Thrones – I kept expecting her to say "You know nothing, Jon Snow") in a battle to stave off a supernatural apocalypse.

The special effects in the movie are serviceable but the same can’t be said of either the script or Vin Diesel’s performance. The story is pretty much by the numbers and a supposed plot twist near the end doesn’t carry half the impact that it should have. There’s not enough wit (it would have helped greatly) here either and the wooden, monotonous Diesel puts a stake through the heart of whatever life may have been in the movie.

The title of the film will probably prove to be prophetic.

Cut to chase:The first but probably last in an intended franchise.

Self/less **¼
Dir: Tarsem Singh
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Ben Kingsley, Natalie Martinez, Matthew Goode, Victor Garber, Derek Luke, Jaynee-Lynne Kinchen, Michelle Dockery

If faced with imminent death would you choose to download your memories and your personality into a new body? It’s an intriguing premise that science fiction has explored before but certainly one that needs a fresh look considering the advancements in science that we’ve had in the past decade or so. It raises all sorts of philosophical, theological, technological and moral questions but Self/less fails to mine almost any of the potential in the idea. Instead, it quickly devolves into a predictable action movie (lots of car chases, fancy fisticuffs, and things going boom) once dying billionaire Damian Hale (Ben Kingsley) wakes up - thanks to a mysterious scientist (Matthew Goode) in a healthy, young body (Ryan Reynolds), supposedly grown in a vat. For a while the new Damian lives it up - with a cool apartment in New Orleans and lots of athletic activity (including in bed) there’s nothing to complain about - but is it all too good to be true?

For an action thriller, the movie can be considered an adequate time-passer, with Ryan Reynolds a likable enough lead. But if only it had the courage to address only some of the questions it raises it could have been so much more. But then that would be expecting a bit too much from a journeyman director like Tarsem Singh who has proven time and time again to be all glossy surface and no substance.

Cut to chase: Wastes the potential in the premise.