Priest

Futurist film based on graphic novel series "Priest" by Min-Woo Hyung with interesting screenplay by Cory Goodman . After centuries of war between humans and vampires , the Church assigns warrior-priests to defeat the vampires . The survivors are kept in reserves and hives and the men live in chaotic cities governed by the Church . A rebel priest (Paul Bettany , Gerard Butler was originally cast) disobeys church law to track down the vampires who kidnapped his niece (Lily Collins , Phil Collins's daughter) . His War is Eternal but his mission is just the beginning . The outcast priest sets out to look for his niece along with a young sheriff named Hicks (Cam Gigandet , though Steven Strait was originally cast) . Then , they encounter themselves chased by bloodthirsty , predatory vampires which have added them to his food chain . Sooner a warrior Priestess (Maggie Q) unites the Priest and Hicks in their quest . The duo along with the priestess must confront carnivorous mutants , hordes of warrior vampires starving of human blood and some of the most horrifying creatures ever made . At a hive the group is surrounded , as they encounter a pack of carnivorous , crawling creatures that are waiting for them , facing their destruction and exposed to cruel bites by meat-eating sickos and finally battle their deadly enemy , Black Hat (Karl Urban) . They undertake a desperate fighting to survive and chase a train to find his niece called Lucy (this is a throwback to the Dracula of Bram Stoker, where there is also a character named Lucy, who is also an engaged redheaded girl in need of saving) .

This exciting picture is set in a post-apocalyptic , an alternate world , one ravaged by centuries of battle between human and bloodsuckers , it contains thrills , chills , plot twists , action-filled with fierce fights and lots of gore and guts . The terror and action moments are fast moving and compactly realized . The film turns out to be a crossover among several films , taking ideas here and there , resulting to be an entertaining movie . And of course the theme of people being stranded in a hostile , perilous environment with attackers creatures is justly reminiscent of many others films as Pitch Black , Pandorum , Descent or Resident Evil saga . The creepy images of wide range from the genuinely fantastic to the bizarre along with an eerie and amazing frames . It's predictable but also its predictability is redeemed for some extraordinary surprises and in part by the charismatic acting from the main protagonists , Bettany and Gigandet . Furthermore a notorious secondary cast as Christopher Plummer , Brad Dourif , Stephen Moyer , Alan Dale , Madchen Amick , among others . The flesh-eating mutants appearance deliver the goods, plenty of screams, shocks and tension. The make-up assistants and visual effects artists create the truly terrible cannibal vampires , adding spectacular frames in 3D . Horrifying and astonishing images about eerie events and creepy scenarios are colorfully photographed by Don Burguess , and including luminous scenes from a futurist desert . Thrilling and suspenseful musical score by Christopher Young , an expert on dark atmospheres . The motion picture was well directed by Scott Charles Stewart , a visual effects specialist and who previously made a similar flick titled ¨Legion¨ . Rating : Acceptable and passable . Worthwhile watching .

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.

dark, dramatic, decent mixture of religion, vampires, not bad acting, impressive fight scenes and special effects. and, maybe more important, a realistic story, the presence of Paul Bettany and Urban being useful ingredients for a film who gives the expected scenes, emotion and fascination.

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

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.