Priest

Don't get me wrong I'm not going to gush about how great this film was, but to be fair it didn't insult my intelligence either and that's a big plus for me when it comes to films these days. I purposely avoided reading any literature in relation to the "story" of Priest to avoid any bias or pointless expectations.

I wanted to judge it based on what was told in the film alone and honestly I have no complaints as far as the story development went, it was pretty straight forward with the plot, the characters were put into position early on, no dicking about with badly handled sub-plots and phony intrigue. I wouldn't consider this to be a pretentious movie in any way, it's says what it's about from the beginning and it doesn't deviate from that narrative, it doesn't bring in (or keep) useless characters, (unlike "Sucker Punch"), it's a gateway movie but it doesn't treat it's support characters like balsa wood cut-outs (i.e "Thor")

Sure there could have been more action but what action there was, was nicely done, visuals weren't eye popping gorgeous but suited the film none-the-less. This was a lean movie, no needless fluff no overly complex ungainly plot just a "wham bam thank you ma'am" type deal.

This is one of the rare times I'm looking forward to a sequel.

Visual effects developer-turned-director, Scott Stewart, delivers his second supernatural action film that claims to be "adapted" from the comic book "Priest". Supposedly based on a Korean comic or "manhwa" of same name, the movie "Priest" has NOTHING to do with the original, not even the name of the squinting "strong silent type" main protagonist played by Paul Bettany. Fallen angels, deal with a demon, multiple time frame story lines and all other interesting elements of the original be damned. And perhaps it was for the better since the manhwa's multiple story lines taking place in the Crusades, the old west and the future would just confuse the heck out of everyone.

So they crafted a whole new premise to appeal to the superficial summer action lover. And the one thing they did right was to give us vampires that do not sparkle in the sunlight. These vampires are all teeth and claws who swarm across the world at night attacking from giant hives, a clear reference to the "Aliens" franchise. These savage beasts have been at constant war with mankind since the dawn of time. A beautifully bloody animated prologue sets the back-story of the film about how mankind's salvation came in the form of the Priests, holy warriors who battled the vampire hordes to near extinction.

This story revolves around one of the veteran priests who lives among the other downtrodden human inhabitants of a walled dystopian city ruled by the now totalitarian church. When he receives word that his niece was abducted by a murderous pack of vampires, the priest breaks his sacred vows to venture out of the city and rescue her. He is joined on his crusade by his niece's boyfriend, a young trigger-finger wasteland sheriff. But as the duo soon discover, reports of the vampires' return have been greatly understated. With a powerful yet familiar threat is leading the newly reformed vampire hordes, the wayward Priest and his companion must fend off supernatural foes and contend with a group of fellow Priests sent to hunt down their rogue brother.

"Priest" is one cliché storm of a film that commits the cardinal sins of a paper thin plot and forgettable characters thanks to the inexperience of first time writer Cory Goodman. The characters are so forgettable that the writer never even bothered to give many of them names. Paul Bettany's main character is just called "Priest" (It is not his name by the way). There is also "Black Hat" (because he wears a black hat) and "The Priestess" (because she is a female priest) just to name a few. They are less like actual characters and more like blank character archetypes thrown in for plot convenience. Archetypes like Cam Gigandet's hot headed Sheriff Hicks (a second reference to Aliens perhaps?) and Lily Collin's damsel in distress Lucy are just as forgettable even though they do have names.

Failing to provide interesting characters or a good story, the least the producers could do was to deliver a holy hell load of violence with a hard R or M18 rating. Sadly the animated prologue has more blood and guts than the entire film combined since most of the gorier battles take place in darkness or amid dust. The Fights are well choreographed but they tend to be more stylish than practical and sometimes border on illogical. For example, a duel on a high speed train is awesome but none of the combatants ever thought of kicking his opponent off the side? But despite these failings of the flesh, some salvation comes to "Priest" in the form of an excellent production design. From the dark cyberpunk inspired Church city to the post apocalyptic western towns dotting the hostile desert lands, great attention had been paid to make those places as believable as possible. Perhaps most memorable would be the tech on display in the film which includes futuristic motorcycles, tricked out shotguns and the Priests' arsenal of deadly cross-themed blade weapons.

Beyond the props, flawless visual effects and startling CGI, the movie tries as well to inject its narrative with deeper subtexts. The Priests themselves call to mind stories of War veterans who were shunned by society and unable to re-integrate, a theme made most famous in "Rambo: First Blood". The film also makes fun of how some churches twist their religion into a means of control, the hypocritical "holier-than-thou" attitude of modern Christians and their single minded belief that they remain "saved from evil" as long as they worship God. It is not intentionally "anti-Christian" or "anti-catholic". It is more of a clever satire but there will always be the more conservative ones who would cry sacrilege.

At only 87 minutes long, Priest moves at a brisk pace and at the very least it is not boring. It would no doubt entertain action junkies and fans of post apocalyptic thrillers although more time could have been spent developing the characters or delving into the underlying themes that were addressed. Priest is spectacular but soulless, with a nice looking "body" but barely enough "blood" and "spirit" to satisfy the more sophisticated movie goer.

6.5/10 Rounded down to 6

Based on the long-running Korean comic of the same name, Priest is one of those films that's been stuck in development hell for the last few years, running a gauntlet of director and lead actor changes and more recently, coping with a series of release date delays in order to facilitate the inevitably shoddy post-production conversion to 3D that's currently so beloved of mainstream cinema.

The added dimension isn't going to win any prizes - for the most part it is relatively pointless, and the world in which Priest takes place is not interesting enough to require any additional depth.

The ever-reliable Paul Bettany stars as the titular character. Stoic to the end, he's not your typical priest - more a deadly weapon, specialising in martial arts and weapons skills that make him the perfect killer. He exists in a time where vampires are a horrifying reality, battling humans for control of a conflict-ridden, barren wasteland punctuated only by large, soulless, church-controlled cities where humans live only for their faith and 'an honest day's labour'.

You don't watch films like this expecting an Oscar-winning tale, and action-wise, Priest is fairly solid, packing in a series of high-octane fights and chases for its duration. Helmer Scott Stewart knows where to put a camera in order to maximise the impact upon the viewer, and the oil-slick manner in which everything is filmed shows a director moving away from his previous field as a visual effects specialist and having a decent stab at mastering his craft.

Unfortunately, there's not a lot going on when knives and bullets aren't being flung around - the supporting cast of Cam Gigandet, Maggie Q and Karl Urban are given next to nothing to do and the dialogue serves only to move the film along to its next set-piece. Story-wise, it's paper-thin, and it's difficult to care about the motivation of any character when the levels of emotion on display resemble that of Mount Rushmore.

It is also strangely edited - 87 minutes is very short for a film with this kind of budget, and there's all manner of blunt cuts that give credence to the theory that there was once a longer, potentially better film here.

So, was Priest worth the wait? Not particularly, but for all its faults, it certainly has promise. Depending on box office performance, it could really benefit from a deeper, beefed-up sequel along the lines of Blade II. The good news is that there's plenty of source material available for a return to this mythology - it's just a shame that it's as shallow as the film it's spawned.

Priest was recommended to me by my late brother, whose love of vampires was only second to his love of gothic fashion. Inspired by a graphic novel series of the same name which was itself inspired by the fantastic video game Blood (1997), Priest is a glorious mix of fantasy/sci-fi/western themes and environments with just enough corniness to make the average graphic novel fan or gamer settle in with popcorn and have a good time.

Paul Bettany plays Priest, utilizing a wonderful Western-esque American accent and looking fine as Mr. Tall, Blonde, and Broody. He lives in a religiously-themed authoritarian city reminiscent of the walled cities in Attack on Titan, where the only thing darker and stinkier than the gritty streets is the Order he has dedicated his life to, led by the always-talented Christopher Plummer. When word gets to him that a family member is in peril after a vampire attack, he rebels against his Order's wishes and goes on a mission to save her, picking up two companions along the way.

Priest starts out a little slow at first before we get insight into Bettany's character, but once he flees the city the film is a feast for the eyes if you love dark, gritty environments. There are also a few bright, post-apocalyptic vistas here, with giant deserts and canyons, fallen city husks, and giant, worn religious monuments. The action scenes stretch the boundaries of realism at times, but always in a fun "Wait, he did WHAT?" kind of way rather than a distraction. Priest has a variety of weapons, gadgets, and moves at his disposal, though Priestess (played by Maggie Q) has the honor of executing the best kill of the movie in its climax. How they must have cleaned up the scene to keep the movie PG-13!

Speaking of the rating: though low on gore, Priest never felt particularly tame or stunted due to its low rating. The more gore and giblets the merrier, but its absence wasn't missed here, aided in part by the film's overall dark tone. Other reviews lament Priest's lack of gripping story; I never had a problem with its straightforward nature, though I liked the movie enough to wish for further films in the franchise (at this point, unlikely).

Some high points of Priest for me: Karl Urban, who intrigues me in everything he does, brings out his inner sass to play the wonderfully intimidating Black Hat. The vampires (save for Black Hat) are creatures, not sensual humans with funny accents, which is my favorite rendition of the myth that is rarely done in modern media. Brad Dourif (Chucky from Child's Play) has a fun bit role as a sleazy salesman. And lastly...vampires are cool, but what's even better? Trains. That's right, folks, the climax features one determined steampunk-esque locomotive, and that just lit a spark in my little girl heart.

I understand why many don't consider Priest one of their favorite movies, but its low score baffles me. There are things Priest could have done better, sure. There are deeper stories to be told in this unique and interesting universe. But Priest was never offensively bad or even mediocre, and as a fan of both video games and graphic novels, it provided something special for me. To my brother: I'm sorry I didn't watch this before you passed, but you were right about Priest. I really liked it.

In all honesty while the film looked kind of interesting I was from reading reviews that it was a waste of time(not just on IMDb). So I watched Priest expecting little, but while it had a fair amount of problems with it I found it decent. Is it the best of year? No. The worst? Nowhere near for me. Priest in my mind is somewhere near the lower-middle of the spectrum.

Where Priest scores especially is in the costume and set design which look wonderful, and the photography and editing looks very slick and the lighting atmospheric. The soundtrack is excellent too, with a rather epic feel to it sometimes. I enjoyed the performances of Paul Bettany and Cam Gigandet, was intrigued somewhat by the characters, even if they are a little vacuous and found the direction decent.

What wasn't so good was primarily the length, I personally think Priest was on the too-short side. Had the film been longer, the script could have been less choppy and underdeveloped and the story-though it did have an interesting concept to work from- less rushed and simplistic. Mostly I was impressed with the stylish look of the film, but I did occasionally find the effects on the artificial side.

Overall, underdeveloped and rather rushed, but the film's look especially saves it. 6/10 Bethany Cox