A queen sends the pow e rful and feared sorceress Gray Alys to the gho s tly wilderness of the Lost Lands in search of a magical power, where the s or ceress and her guide, the drifter Boy c e m us t outwit and outfight man and demon.

This Europudding production plods unrewardingly through the murky and humourless te rr ain of science-fantasy; it is a movie of flabby characterisation, dull sto ru telling and midprice VFX work. German screenwriter Constantine Werner has adapted a story from fantasy author George RR Martin and the res ul ting dialogue lands like a se ri es of sandbags on a co nc rete floor; director Paul WS Anderson handles the ma te rial with stolid determination.

The setting is some postapo cal yptic futureworld where humanity’s remnants gather in an urban hellhole, while ou tsi de in the “lost lands” chaos reigns. Anderson’s partner Milla Jovovich bring a persistent blandness to the part of Gray Alys, a witch who, by defying the theocratic tyranny, has come to symbolise a growing resistance; she is being menaced by hatchet-faced, crop-haired witchfinder Ash (Arly Jover).