Okay, I can hear everyone right now - Joelist of all people is watching AND reviewing a movie like Priest?
What can I say, I was up late and it appeared on cable. I was also drawn in by the "Post-Apocalyptic" backsetting. So, first a VERY brief overview and then to my opinions on it.
Priest is based on a Korean manga that posits an alternate world where history has been dominated by the war between humans and "vampires". the Priests are an order of warrior clerics trained up by the "church" in advanced martial arts to win this war after which the surviving vampires are placed on reservations while humans live in walled cities where the smoke of their industry blots out the sun (right out of Blade Runner). The movie is specifically the story of one Priest (Paul Bettany) who comes out of imposed retirement (after the war the church forcibly retired the Priests because they feared their own creation) when his daughter goes missing and the local sherriff suspects vampires are involved. Also in the film are Karl Urban, Maggie Q and Cam Gigandet.
First impression. The movie looks very slick. Settings are well done and really do not look CGI. Even the vampires are well rendered. Plot note here - these "vampires" are not what we call vampires. They are feral non-humanoid creatures that live in hives with queens over them. If anything they are a bit like the Aliens from, well, "Aliens". The weaponry used by the Priests is also well rendered and the city and hive settings are nicely done.
The action choreography is also excellent. Of note is that both Bettany and Maggie Q did their own stunts here and their fighting was smooth and did not look overly "chop socky". And Karl Urban's action scenes were superb. Cam Gigandet really did not get lots of scenes like this so it's hard to judge in his case.
The acting is pretty decent , especially for a "fight film" like this. Bettany is watchable but as seen in his previous roles he does lack range - he comes off a little like a non-Italian Stallone copy. Maggie Q is excellent here and creates a believable character and Cam Gigandet is passable as the sherriff. But Karl Urban steals the show here in another outstanding performance as a character who literally drives the big reveal in the movie. Does this guy EVER do a role poorly? In Star Trek 2009 he was sensational as McCoy and even back in the otherwise insipid "DOOM" film he took his part and made it believable.
Are there issues with the film? Well yes.
First, the plot is a tad thin. It is enough to launch the characters into action but not much more. And it has a couple of moments that induce head scratching.
Second, as happens a lot in oriental manga choice symbols and words are appropriated from Christianity but the meaning is lost because their usage in the film contradicts their actual usage. Warrior Priests are more an Eastern religion thing, especially those who are super skilled in martial arts. The closest equivalent I could think of in "Church" to what I saw in the film would be the Knights Templar but the analogy does not fit really at all beyond the name. These Priests act, move and function very much like Chinese/Japanese/Korean warrior clerics. In fact, had they simply made the "church" an Eastern style warrior order it would have worked much better. But to be honest this was not a deal breaker to me.
Overall, I wouldn't nominate this film for any Academy Awards. But it is watchable action entertainment. I liked it. You might.
What can I say, I was up late and it appeared on cable. I was also drawn in by the "Post-Apocalyptic" backsetting. So, first a VERY brief overview and then to my opinions on it.
Priest is based on a Korean manga that posits an alternate world where history has been dominated by the war between humans and "vampires". the Priests are an order of warrior clerics trained up by the "church" in advanced martial arts to win this war after which the surviving vampires are placed on reservations while humans live in walled cities where the smoke of their industry blots out the sun (right out of Blade Runner). The movie is specifically the story of one Priest (Paul Bettany) who comes out of imposed retirement (after the war the church forcibly retired the Priests because they feared their own creation) when his daughter goes missing and the local sherriff suspects vampires are involved. Also in the film are Karl Urban, Maggie Q and Cam Gigandet.
First impression. The movie looks very slick. Settings are well done and really do not look CGI. Even the vampires are well rendered. Plot note here - these "vampires" are not what we call vampires. They are feral non-humanoid creatures that live in hives with queens over them. If anything they are a bit like the Aliens from, well, "Aliens". The weaponry used by the Priests is also well rendered and the city and hive settings are nicely done.
The action choreography is also excellent. Of note is that both Bettany and Maggie Q did their own stunts here and their fighting was smooth and did not look overly "chop socky". And Karl Urban's action scenes were superb. Cam Gigandet really did not get lots of scenes like this so it's hard to judge in his case.
The acting is pretty decent , especially for a "fight film" like this. Bettany is watchable but as seen in his previous roles he does lack range - he comes off a little like a non-Italian Stallone copy. Maggie Q is excellent here and creates a believable character and Cam Gigandet is passable as the sherriff. But Karl Urban steals the show here in another outstanding performance as a character who literally drives the big reveal in the movie. Does this guy EVER do a role poorly? In Star Trek 2009 he was sensational as McCoy and even back in the otherwise insipid "DOOM" film he took his part and made it believable.
Are there issues with the film? Well yes.
First, the plot is a tad thin. It is enough to launch the characters into action but not much more. And it has a couple of moments that induce head scratching.
Second, as happens a lot in oriental manga choice symbols and words are appropriated from Christianity but the meaning is lost because their usage in the film contradicts their actual usage. Warrior Priests are more an Eastern religion thing, especially those who are super skilled in martial arts. The closest equivalent I could think of in "Church" to what I saw in the film would be the Knights Templar but the analogy does not fit really at all beyond the name. These Priests act, move and function very much like Chinese/Japanese/Korean warrior clerics. In fact, had they simply made the "church" an Eastern style warrior order it would have worked much better. But to be honest this was not a deal breaker to me.
Overall, I wouldn't nominate this film for any Academy Awards. But it is watchable action entertainment. I liked it. You might.
