Priest (2011)

The first time I saw the trailer to this movie, the first thing I noticed that actor Paul Bettay was in it. There has always been something about this actor's ability to create the most delicious ennui in his characters that I have always found appealing.

Of course his talent has more often than not been in service of movies with really dumb scripts (like last year's 'Legion'). It's too bad. He is just the right kind of actor for certain movies because of the pain and loss that he is so easily able to project. In this movie he certainly doesn't crack a smile.

'Priest' (based on the graphic novel of the same name by Min-Woo Hyung) is the story of another chapter in the eternal struggle between man and vampire. We are told via an animated sequence (a nice surprise to start the film) that after many years it took the creation of near supernaturally skilled warriors who were specially trained by the church to turn the tide for humanity. These were called the PRIESTS (sorta like Jedi without lightsabers) and after their jobs was done, the church disbanded them and abandoned them to a society that neither needed them or wanted them.

It's easy to spot a former Priest. They all have red crosses tattooed on their faces.

The remaining vampires were put into reservations. Why not just kill them all? Why keep them alive and risk them escaping from these prisons one day, starting the whole cycle of death over again?

In this time most of the humans have retreated into cities that are more church prisons and indoctrination centers than anything else. Video screens encourage people to repent and messages are constantly broadcast through loudspeakers that tell everyone that going against the church means the same thing than going against God.

It's a bleak, dark, fearful place.

Bettany leaves the city (on his jet powered motorcycle no less) against the orders of the Church when he hears that his niece Lucy has been kidnapped after a vampire attack that killed her mother and severely injured her father. They live outside the cities in a place called the Wastelands. The Church of course doesn't want him to go because his actions may disrupt the society of lies they have constructed and any mention of vampires because it threatens their totally control over the populations.

It's not bad enough that the Church are just general assholes but they are so fearful that they send a team of Priests after Bettany just to insure that he does not succeed. What are they so afraid of? One of the Priests (Maggie Q) knew Bettay when they both fought in the human/vampire war. She loves him but since the Priest's take a vow of celibacy, that is a subplot going nowhere.

In the wastelands, Priest is joined by the young man and Sheriff (Cam Gigandet) who came to tell him about the attack on his family. He is in love with Lucy and together they set out on their mission.

I enjoyed seeing all the ways that these Priests did their wetwork against these CGI vampires but after the first couple of times against these creatures it felt like any video game based movie fighting I have seen a thousand times before. The vampires move so fast so most of the killing is down in slow motion with a good deal a wire work familiar to anyone who enjoys Chinese or Hong Kong action movies. Sometimes it looks okay, sometimes it looks clunky.

Karl Urban also stars as Black Hat, a priest who Bettany once knew and who is extra deadly because he now has the skills and powers of both priest and vampire. I swear the filmmakers only dressed him in a duster and cowboy hat just so he could turn around to give the audience that 'Clint Eastwood' stare. Urban really has the goods to pull that look off big time.

The movie is serviceable for an hour and a half's entertainment then totally forgettable. They set things up for a sequel but I don't see that getting made.

6/10