Priest (2011)

• Year: 2011
• Released: 13 May 2011
• Country: United States
• Adwords: 3 nominations
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0822847/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/Priest
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/priest
• Available in: 3D, 720p, 1080p
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: PG-13
• Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
• Runtime: 87 min
• Writer: Cory Goodman, Min-Woo Hyung
• Director: Scott Stewart
• Cast: Paul Bettany, Cam Gigandet, Maggie Q
• Keywords: dystopia, vampire, post-apocalyptic future, crucifixion, vampire hunter,

	5.7/10
	41/100
	15% – Critics
	46% – Audience

Priest Storyline

In a dystopian world, the church, in control of “civilized” society within the walls they’ve built, had once trained priests to combat vampires. That role of the priest was revoked when the church felt that the vampire problem was no more in having confined them. When teenaged Lucy Pace is abducted, signs being that abduction carried out by vampires, her uncle, a priest (hereafter referred to solely as Priest), is determined to find her before she becomes infected. In doing so, Priest goes against the church, which refuses to reinstate his authority as a vampire battler in not believing that there is a vampire problem and which states that in going against the church is going against God. Joining Priest in searching for Lucy is Hicks, a sheriff outside the church walls, he who is in love with Lucy, and Priestess, one of Priest’s old colleagues with who he has a special bond. If they are able to find who abducted Lucy, they will discover that their adversary has past ties to them. In the process, a potential problem arises in deciding what to do if they find that Lucy has already been infected, Hicks who will not allow her to die under any circumstance, while Priest is willing to kill her in she no longer being who she was, killing her despite his closer tie to her than he divulges.

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Priest Movie Reviews

Decent enough if underdeveloped

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

Mindless and routine

Another cookie-cutter fantasy/sci-fi/adventure hybrid, this one interchangeable with a dozen others. This one mostly resembles UNDERWORLD with a bit of VAN HELSING and I AM LEGEND thrown into the mix. The story is based on a comic book and sees a renegade priest tracking a band of vampires through a post-apocalyptic landscape.

Unfortunately, as is so often the case with Hollywood movies these days, PRIEST’s story is dull. There’s no room here for characterisation, just moody and underlit sequences and a series of poorly-conceived CGI action scenes. The direction is sub par and the editing pretty poor, rendering the action boring for the most part, while the fanged vampires are too reminiscent of the ones previously seen in I AM LEGEND.

Paul Bettany seems listless in one of those picking-up-the-paycheque parts, and the supporting cast are equally disappointing. Maggie Q has absolutely nothing to do as the female sidekick, other than wear tight leather like Carrie-Ann Moss in THE MATRIX. Karl Urban’s villain just isn’t villainous, and the less said about Lily Collins’s damsel in distress, the better. There are minor roles for Christopher Plummer, Brad Dourif, and Alan Dale (aka Jim from NEIGHBOURS), but nobody is good here. Instead, the cast are entirely by rote, as is the film itself.

Graphic novel sci-fi world has potential

In an alternate post-apocalyptic world, vampires have always existed. People withdrew into walled cities ruled by the church during the war with the vampires. Priests are powerful warriors and the main force in the victory over the vampires. Eventually all the vampires are put into reservations, and priests are reintegrated back into society. However, the war isn’t as over as everybody thinks.

Paul Bettany plays one of those priest. His brother is living outside the walled city with his family. One night, the vampires attack and kidnaps his niece Lucy (Lily Collins). Lucy’s sheriff boyfriend Hick (Cam Gigandet) is going after her, and he goes to the city to find the priest. However the church refuses to allow the priest leave the city. When he disobeys the church’s order, they send 4 other priests to get him back dead or alive. It turns out that a former priest played by Karl Urban is behind the attack.

It’s a fascinating graphic novel sci-fi world. However it doesn’t make it a compelling movie. There is a pacing problem. Also there is a lack of tension. The action doesn’t feel exciting. As a horror, it doesn’t feel scary. What this movie truly misses is its humanity. Neither Paul Bettany nor Maggie Q play the priests with enough humanity. Some of it can be blamed on some clunky dialog.