Customer Reviews

Priest (Rated Version)

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(44)
3 star:		(28)
2 star:		(19)
1 star:		(24)

 

 

This visually arresting film is sure to please those looking for a popcorn-y monster movie diversion. The plot's not much to write about (based on a series of graphic novels:Priest: Genesis - Volumes 1-3), but the visual interpretation is at times nearly breathtaking on the big screen (especially in 3D). The priests are a special cadre of warriors commissioned by The Church (the new world's governing body) to hunt down and eradicate vampires in the land. According to the comic book-style animated backstory, they accomplished their mission and were disbanded. But wait, not so fast. Despite The Church's unexplained objections and denials, there may be vampire trouble brewing outside the protective walls of the cities. One priest renounces his vows to save a girl held captive by the marauding beasts.

This is a world that looks like Utah's stark salt flats without life or greenery, but with lots of space where one can really zip around on super-cool jet-powered motorcycles. The cities are grotesque gothic masses of steel and randomly placed video screens straight out of a monochrome version of Blade Runner - The Final Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition). The sets are stark and at the same time fantastic. One feels the clausterphobia and despair of a world without natural light or color. The CGI set designers seemed to take great care in developing a convincing post-apocalyptic wasteland, but the results are uneven. Adding in great amounts of detail in some scenes (3D dust particles, stunning lighting effects) is very impressive with its realism, only to be followed by a scene that seemed blurry, monochromatic, and feeling incomplete. Overall, the visual sets and effects are easily the most impressive part of the film.

Paul Bettany is convincing as a supercharged yet tortured vampire killer who gave up a shot at a normal existence (well, as normal an existence could be with vampires roaming the open plains) in order to dedicate his life to culling vampire herds and protecting mankind. Not much emotional range is needed for the role, but Bettany does a decent job of infusing it with some humanity. Cam Gigandet plays a squinty wild west-style gunslinger/sheriff bent on saving his girl. He's good with his knife but better with his gun (so he says). His character (and how Gigandet plays him) seems more of an annoyance to The Priest (and to the audience as well). Karl Urban steals his every scene with a deliciously snarling performance of a former priest gone bad. Maggie Q stoically kicks but while trying to hide her not-so-priestess-y feelings for our hero. The performance, while they won't be in line for Oscar consideration, are strong enough to carry the relatively weak story and drive the action.

The action is propulsive, albeit sometimes disjointed and difficult to follow in the vampire combat scenes. Not to worry, there's plenty of gory death and dismemberment for the mutants, which leads to this question: What does it take for a movie to get an "R" rating these days? There were amputations, decapitations, combustions, explosions, lacerations, and lots and lots of blood. Throw in a single "F"-word and they must've given the MPAA more than a few fits. I had to recheck my ticket to verify I'd actually seen a PG-13 feature. Sure enough, but still hard to believe. Anyway, it certainly satisfied the film's action quotient.

One aspect that may offend some viewers is that there seems to be open season on the Catholic church. The film makes no bones about its scorn for all things religious, especially if religion is used (in a paraphrase of Karl Marx) as the opiate of the masses. Christopher Plummer's immense talent is wasted as the control-minded monsignor of the church's highest office. He wails mantras through ubiquitous video screens to the city's public mind-numbingly plodding through the streets, obviously attempting to overtly brain wash. "To turn against the church is to turn against God" must be repeated 20 times in the film. We get what you're saying. Move on. Alan Dale's considerable acting chops are also squandered as he plays Plummer's right-hand monsignor. There was hope for what could have been a fantastic plot twist (a mole in the highest court) that never developed as his character took the wide path that leads to destruction, one of more than a few missed screenwriting opportunities.

But that's not necessarily why one watches a vampire-slayer movie. It's that kind of poor screenwriting that kept this film from being something really special and memorable. Instead, it's relegated to the class of effective but flawed genre film.

The bottom line is: I still liked it. I'd recommend "Priest" to anyone who likes films in the genre like Blade or Underworld (Widescreen Special Edition).

I'm sorry, "graphic novel" action film.

All sarcasm aside, "Priest" was exactly as advertised; excellent science fiction action, well suited for popcorn. And I enjoyed the heck out of it.

In an alternate earth, the Church and vampires have been at war for centuries. Technology didn't offer the solution, recruiting and training extraordinary fighters, the Priests, did. And when the church had won, and the vampires were contained in underground reservations, the Priests were not needed. The Church marginalized the Priests, and didn't want to admit that their control was incomplete, so when the vampires escaped the reservation and raided a farm house, they didn't want to acknowledge that the vampires were loose, or that the Priests were needed again. But the settlers killed and kidnapped by the vampires were friends of a Priest.

While Paul Bettany delivered an outstanding performance (of its sort) in the title role, Maggie Q, Karl Urban, and Christopher Plummer really carried it for me. Bettany delivered the brooding warrior priest very well, delivering intensity and portraying a man trying to reconcile conflicting duties well. The role didn't allow him great range, but he did the most with it. Maggie Q was allowed a far greater range as another Priest with chaste love for the hero. Her roles are getting more serious, and she is finally getting a chance to show her abilities. Well, she's always gotten to show off her martial arts gifts, and she does again here too. Karl Urban also gets a well earned, central role in this one, but aside from saying that he does an excellent job in a different character from earlier roles, I can't go further without spoilers. Christopher Plummer, of course, was excellent, adding depth and power to the role of the senior clergyman and political leader in the Church.

The action was first rate, the plot was solid, and the actors were exceptional. OK, so sci-fi action flicks aren't for everyone, especially ones from comic books. If they are, you'll enjoy this one a lot.

E.M. Van Court

Dont get me wrong...this isnt an amazing display of acting or screenplay or what have you. However, what it definitely was....was bad ass. The imagery and landscapes were cool, the fighting was pretty neat, the characters were approachable, and the weapons were pretty awesome. It's only an hour and a half long, so you arent going to get that finely detailed development of a drama, but do you really need it? Nope. Basically, it's bad asses killing some creepy looking vampires, and feud between Priest and A) the Church (in this case, representing society and government along with the dogma and the deceit that comes with it), B) an old buddy turned nemesis, and C)occasionally with what is basically his sidekick.
I'll avoid revealing too much of the story, as sparse as it is, although you'll basically know what's going on within the first ten minutes or so.
To me,this was a movie made strictly to develop interest in a longer running series of movies, which promise to be even more bad-ass.
Excellent effort, worth the minor time commitment, pleasing to the eye. :)

This is a wild sort of Steam-punk (train and all) alternative reality in the future. The movie rolls off the blocks with some intense action. After a brief narration to get the viewer up to speed. It then flips over to a calm family setting, which is then quickly shattered.

What makes this movie a cut above the typical hack and slash films is that it is able to steal away moments of intense emotional depth between the characters.

This adds texture to the film and makes it a truly enjoyable film.

While the film is enjoyable and the acting right on par, I could not access the unrated version as my blue-ray player is not connected to my internet. I would have appreciated the information that such a connection was necessary to view more than the theatrical version, thus saving some money. As for the film, I could not help making comparisons with the hugely successful and brilliant novel "The Passing." The look of the vampires the protected cities, etc. An enjoyable romp and while Paul Bettany was superb, Carl Urban was simply darkly remantic and added the element of shocked awe to the other characters.

A unique idea very well done and entertaining, excellent special effects-not overdone, kept me glued to the screen all the way through. Highly recommended.

POST-PRODUCTION 3D (converted from 2D to 3D)

Action Packed Gore and Horror

My ratings are based mainly on the QUALITY OF THE 3D, not the video content.

There are about 38 out of screen effects that extend about 5% of the way, from the screen to the viewer and 34 at 10%. They were hard to count because about half of each are just split second effects.

I counted another 8 OOS effects between 20% and 30%. 4 of the 8 are floating smog flakes or sparks. The maximum effect is at 52:00 minutes while sparks are floating around ONE SINGLE SPARK floats in from 50%. 2 of the 8 are vamps jumping out to 25% at 33 and 45:30 minutes. The last 2 of the 8 are throwing stars briefly floating in slow-mo at 33:20 and a cross shaped throwing knife bowing out to 25% at 75:15.

The in screen 3D depth is excellent in over half of the movie (mainly in the brighter scenes), but the remainder of the 3D is somewhat muted due to some overly dark scenes, smog, smoke or dust. The nature of the script is this films biggest 3D downfall.

With that said, I enjoyed the 3D movie for what it was and give it a 4 star thumbs up!

*** Almost no flaws in the 3D ***
*** of the clear, bright scenes ***

MY 3D RATING = GOOD to VERY GOOD (poor, fair, good, very good, excellent)

Note: As far as the percentages go, everyone's eyes are different. What I see at 25% you may see at 15% or 35%. To fully realize how far something is out of the screen for you, pause on an effect and direct a partner with an extended finger to the tip of what you are seeing. You may be surprised.

Click on `See all my reviews' for the lowdown on other 3Ds

The TV commercials made this movie look stupid and uninteresting. It was a pleasant surprise! every macho action genre mixed into one entertaining film. Vampire, post-apocalyptic, mystic martial arts, revenge, save the damsel in distress, stoic and isolated indestructible hero -- cool chick side-kick -- very entertaining. Can't wait for the squeal.

A solid monster movie. Better than most for this category.

What it lacks in plot creativity or complexity - the filmmakers and cast made up for in earnest effort, crisp cinematography, and very decent sfx.

'Priest' tells the story of a war that was thought won long ago. A war against vampires. After the downfall of society, the Church is recast as humanity's savior by bringing forth their specially trained foot soldiers - The Priests. It's their effort that turns back the vampiric tide and ultimately wins the battle. The order then sets out to rebuild out of the ruins, bringing life to the mega-cities that house the remainder of 'civilized' people, protected from the ravaged and desiccated wastelands that sadly comprise the remainder of the planet. And having preserved humankind, the religious hierarchy took over as complete and absolute rulers. Ironically, no longer relevant in this new safe world - The Priests themselves are retired.

Until one priest learns of an outlander family that is murdered. One he knows well - it's his family. Unusual because most priests are selected as very young children and spend the remainder of their lives training for the day that they might be called to duty; they have no memory of any family outside of the church. However, his story differs significantly because he was taken as a young adult. The order recognized in him innate abilities that weren't discovered until he was well past the age where most recruits are taken; those latent skills were tremendous, a quantum leap beyond other acolytes. He becomes the ultimate Priest, the pinnacle of their training embodied into a focused weapon of precision.

And he's going to find out who's responsible for his kinfolk being butchered, no matter what it takes. Even if it means breaking his vow of obedience. Even if he has to wipe out other priests who are ordered to stop his heretical actions. But what he doesn't expect is being forced to confront his past, in more ways than one.

Based on some of the tomato and film fan reviews I briefly scoped out, I suspect a huge turnoff was the use of The Cross. Lemmings have been taught via rote and mimic to find Christianity as inherently bad and/or misguided. While I'm not going to get baited into an argument about theology, as a movie fan I do find it unsettling that so many are led by the nose via the entertainment industry; "learning" their world view without actually doing the hard work of discovering it for themselves. Sadly typical of the laziness inherent in so many people today.

A popcorn flick that makes for a decent filler while waiting for the blockbuster or important film releases.

Personal Notes:

- Loved the jet-powered motorcycles. I've seen several real-life versions of this and each one looks about as ridable as a rabid bat out of hell, pretty much self-induced widowmakers. This flick is about as close as I would want to get to one. The subsequent vicarious woody seeing them tear across open desert, even if it's about as real as spaceships going faster than light speed, was enough of a ride.

- Paul Bettany has been such an excellent addition to so many film projects. Unfortunately, in this particular garb and make-up, there's more than a bit of the Albino from 'The Da Vinci Code' echoed in his performance. I suppose that's unavoidable given the general framework of the story. But I still had a difficult time trying to shake it from memory. Obviously the standard colors when doing dystopia are black, muted brown and flat gray. However, to move his character away from that previous performance, perhaps going with a costume of navy blue and gold highlights; something to individualize and step-away from Silas.

Also, when I watch the man, I often wonder if there's a production that will finally reveal what I perceive is a potential superstar in the making. I've seen him teeter on the brink of becoming a serious contending lead actor - all he needs is that one role that'll catapult him to instant recognition. But on the other hand, he might just be too distinguished to cast, very much in the Willem Dafoe vein.

- Ditto my thoughts on Karl Urban. Though admittedly he's earned himself spots on several high-profile projects over the years - most notably in the recently rebooted 'Star Trek' franchise. I've been a fan for quite some time, and am particularly enamored of his performance as the Russian FSB agent in the second Bourne film. Had high hopes that some producer might see the potential and do a movie based on his character Kirill. But... <shrug>

this is an awesome movie, one of the best i've seen this year priest is action packed from start to finish. this movie is awesome. the story and the actors are great. i love this movie and you will to. if you have not seen this movie then i recommend that you do