Country:
USA
Recognizable Faces:
Paul Bettany
Karl Urban
*ugh*...Cam Gigandet
Maggie Q
Brad Dourif
Christopher Plummer
Directed By:
Scott Stewart
There are some movies that do so many things wrong off-screen that their chances to succeed are sabotaged before premiere. PRIEST is like that. Let's do a checklist of things that turned people off. First, it's in 3D. In a bit over a year, 3D has become synonymous with rubbish special effects, cheap gimmicks and long, filler scenes that don't make sense on a normal television. It's been advertised on Spike TV, which has advertised so many stupid movies in the past, it had no chance to be categorized as anything else. Oh, and it bears the stench of the ungodly Cam Gigandet. His face has become synonymous with stupid and sucking dick for work, since his "breakout" mixed martial arts flick NEVER BACK DOWN. In all truth, while it indulges in many Hollywood clichés, PRIEST ain't half bad. Thanks to the imaginary of Min-Woo Hyung, who wrote the graphic novel the movie is based on and to Scott Stewart, who took the right decisions and wrapped up a humble and competent film who lives up to what it promises.
Yeah, the premise of PRIEST is nothing original. In a steampunk future (OK, the steampunk part is pretty cool and original), the church has formed their priests to fight the vampire menace, but they have proceeded to seclude most of mankind in sprawling, gated metropolises where they are enslaved by religion (and far from the sun). They have also proceeded to declare the war on vampires over and to reduced their weapon (the priests) to irrelevance. They are literally roaming the cities with nothing much to do, but brood over their traumatic memories. An unnamed priest (Bettany) is contacted by a Sheriff Hicks (Gigandet) from the outside world, to help with the investigation on a vampire attack his brother and his family were victim of. Priest (let's call him Priest) challenges the word of the church, who deems the vampire race almost extinct after all those years. He also reconnects with his demons and with who he is. He goes back on the vampire hunt to find out that what the church has filtered and the reality aren't even in the same ballpark.
PRIEST is a lone, gritty wanderer story like many others, but there are things I liked about it. The vampires for example, are a fresh and unique twist on their more classic definition. Their are the soulless creatures of the night they were first written about. Black Hat (Karl Urban) is a little more of a Dracula-ish character, but you never lose the impression of imminent danger when he's on screen. He's a savage like the others, but only with a sexier body. I liked how the vampires were dehumanized and had to rely to their familiar (you might know them as ghouls, if you're into vampire lore) when they can't rely on brute force. The economy of vampire reservations (hello parallel with natives, I know) is also well structured and makes for a dynamic and pissed off set of antagonists.
When I say Scott Stewart took the right decisions, I mean that he stayed focused on developing a decent storyline and to keep his film character-driven. He never even flirts with long and self-absorbed battle scene. He never ditches character for action and every time there is a battle scene, it brings fresh images and makes full use of the steampunk setting. The acting is the low part of this movie. Paul Bettany strains to pull off a taciturn badass with a hoarse voice gimmick and Christopher Plummer plays the same cameo of greedy old man he's played in every movie for the last ten years. Maggie Q, who plays Love Interest X, is the only one pulling a decent job here. She's got a gift for showing desire and restraint. She breathes life into a blank character. It's too bad that Bettany can't act, because he's got interesting facial features and can transform surprisingly well. He looks like Priest, but talks and acts like Clint Eastwood, thirty-years ago.
Overall, PRIEST is a decent, responsible take on the individuality problematic. That's more than actual in the United States of today, who got slumped by a bunch of Ayn Rand worshipping bankers. Priest lets go of any systematic thinking, while keeping his Christian morals and his spirituality. He tries to do the right thing while keeping true to his vows of a life of sacrifice and hard work. Having a storyline that holds up together and actually SAYS something is more than most Hollywood movies can brag about. Not only PRIEST does, but it's also saying something worth listening to. Yes, it's riddled with clichés and with piss-poor acting, but it's also somewhat original, thanks to Min-Woo Hyung's imaginary. It's not an Oscars runner-up, but it's definitively not the pile of crap it was made out to be.
SCORE: 72%