It may come as a surprise to many but Priest works alarmingly well, and if you’re a fan of comic book movies than this is one you don’t want to miss. From stunning cinematography to a story that completely involves you this is film that you simply must see in 3D.
Taken from Min-Woo Hyung’s graphic novel the film tells the story of Priest (Paul Bettany – Margin Call, The Tourist) a priest who was trained by the Church to help win the war on vampires. The Church won the war and all remaining vampires have been placed in ‘reservations’ and therefore these highly trained Priests are now of no use. However, when Priest’s brother and sister-in-law are murdered and his niece, Lucy (Lily Collins – The Blind Side, TV’S 90210) is taken captive all signs point to it being a vampire attack. The Church decrees that this is ridiculous and forbids Priest to investigate. However, with the help of Lucy’s boyfriend and town sheriff, Hicks (Cam Gigandet – The Roomate, Burlesque ) he goes against the Church’s orders. In response they send a group, which includes Priestess (Maggie Q – Rogues Gallery, The King Of Fighters), to assassinate him.
Director, Scott Charles Stewart (Legion, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love) makes sure Priest works by making sure the film doesn’t try to be anything more than what it is – a graphic novel. His touch of setting up the story using graphic novel style illustrations is brilliant while his visual-creation of such a dark, Church-driven world is equal to what we saw in Dark City. Aided by a simplistic script the audience is given easy access to what could be a complex world and despite the supernatural theme you easily identify with the characters at hand. To be precise Stewart has delivered a visually stunning film that is only enhanced in 3D.
As usual Paul Bettany puts in a great performance and despite the fact the film’s biggest weakness is that the characters are very one-dimensional you do get a strong feel for his character, while Karl Urban (Red, And Soon The Darkness) seems to lap up being able to play the evil Black Hat. And despite his presence in a lot of movies recently this seems to be the film where Cam Gigandet seems to standout rather than just glide in under the radar like usual.
Priest isn’t going to win any Oscars but it is an enjoyable movie that will be lapped up by fans of action and comic book films. The ending may be a little predictable, but the amazing visuals and interesting characters make the journey there enjoyable. A surprisingly good film that can be thoroughly enjoyed.
Year: 2011
Director: Scott Charles Stewart
Stars: Paul Bettany, Cam Gigandet, Maggie Q, Karl Urban
Classification: M
Runtime: 87 mins
Rating: 
Available on DVD from 23rd December, 2011