Over the last 5 years, there have been a slew of non-superhero comic book movies. Some have been great but many have failed to live up to expectation. The Priest movie is based off of a Korean comic book, Priest. Would this adaptation be worth watching or would it fail to translate to a feature film?
Plot:
In the world of Priest, humanity has been at war with the vampires for centuries. Humanity won the Last Vampire War. The vampire species were almost made extinct and the few left were banished to reservations. The Priests were the front line warrior/ vampire killers during the war but now find themselves living in obscurity under the power of the Church.
One of the Priests from the previous war is approached by Hicks, the sheriff of a nearby town. Hicks brings bad news of the Priest’s brother being killed and his niece being kidnapped by vampires. The Priest attempts to get the Church’s approval to go after his niece and the vampires but Monsignor Orelas refuses to believe the Priest and forbids the Priest from leaving. The Priest disobeys and set out to find his niece and to get revenge.
What I liked:
I love a good post apocalyptic story. This is an alternate timeline post apocalyptic story were the past vastly different than the present. The cities that exist are overcrowded and vastly polluted. The small towns and countryside is similar to the Wild West. This movie plays the post apocalyptic science fiction perfectly.
Paul Bettany plays the Priest. He did a great job of bringing this character to the screen. He was able to be priest like at the same time being a monster slayer. It is a tough balancing act and Paul seemed to nail it.
I really enjoyed the actress Maggie Q and how she portrays the Priestess who tracks down the Priest. Maggie Q is great in the CW tv show Nikita. She kicks serious butt in this movie similarly to Nikita. Her role made this movie feel more comfortable.
What I Didn’t Like:
I hate how the Church is portrayed in this movie. Most religious organizations are presented as either incompetent or simply evil in most movies and television. As a person who is religious, this simply rubs me the wrong way. The Church in this movie was incompetent and a main source of friction for the Priest.
I really did not like the look and feel of the vampires in this movie. They were more monsters than what we normally think of as vampires. These vampires looked like the blind creatures from the future in the BBC series Primeval. There was a hybrid vampire/priest “Black Hat” and he was a more stereotypical vampire.
Review:
I enjoyed this movie. It was a fun post apocalyptic movie with monsters.
This movie is PG13 and could have been R rated with the violence. It is not appropriate for young children.
This movie is out on DVD and is running on the pay movie channels.
My Grade:B
Other Reviews IMDB: 5.7
