In a distant future, Earth has been devastated by a centuries-long war between humans and vampires. The clerical order that has taken control of the few remaining cities has established a platoon of warrior priests trained to fight and kill vampires. The war ends with the victory of humans, and the warrior priests, having completed their mission, are dismissed from their duties. When all vampires are believed to be dead, a group of undead attacks a farm outside the walls of the great metropolis, killing the inhabitants and kidnapping Lucy, an 18-year-old niece of one of the former warrior priests. The latter, upon learning of the incident, immediately sets out to track down the girl, accompanied by Hicks, a young sheriff from a remote outpost and Lucy's fiancé. By doing so, the priest breaks the laws of the Clergy, which sends a group of other priests after the disobedient with the aim of bringing him back to the right path.
"Priest" is the cinematic adaptation of a Korean comic (a manwha) created by Min-Woo Hyung, a rather famous work that already in the past (in 2006, to be precise) aroused the interest of the Studios for a film, in which Gerard Butler was supposed to star as the lead actor, directed by Andrew Douglas ("Amityville Horror" remake). Nothing came of it, but the project remained in the air long enough to
find realization just four years later with Paul Bettany in the role of the warrior priest and Scott Stewart in the director's chair. Bettany and Stewart, two names that have already appeared side by side in another fantasy-horror that had religion among its main themes, namely that "Legion" loud and unlikely but fun mess of angel terminators and celestial demons. This is particularly indicative of what you are about to see with "Priest", because Stewart's hand is recognizable and while on the one hand it aims for more serious tones and a blockbuster sumptuousness, on the other hand it is fun with jumping monsters and plenty of action tamarra.
Stewart directs a script cared for by the debutant Cory Goodman who tends to drastically change much of the original material. Think only of the fact that in the comic there are no vampires but fallen angels (a very strong point of contact with "Legion"!) and the setting is not futuristic but strictly western (at the beginning, then it also moves to the present day) and you will realize how much the cinematic adaptation differs
from the paper origin. But this is not a problem, we are used to it ("Dylan Dog - Il film" docet) and therefore it will be a good thing for the more nerdy fan of the comic to either stay away from the film or prepare psychologically to do so, considering that Scott Stewart's work had the blessing of Min-Woo Hyung already in the script phase.
"Priest" blends as many film genres as possible into one movie, creating a hybrid that still seems to find a proper balance for each component. There is horror, ensured by the presence of bestial and monstrous vampires; there is science fiction, included in the temporal setting and the geography of the cities that much resemble that of "Blade Runner"; there is western, represented by the desert scenarios outside the fortified city and the clothing of some characters; there is action, which stems from the numerous shootouts and hand-to-hand fights that animate the 90 minutes of the film's duration. In the end, perhaps it is the horror that turns out to be the minority in a work that nevertheless presents itself as PG-13 and tends to conceal blood and exhibited violence to favor the noisy and boisterous action that winks more than once to the Wachowski and to oriental martial arts cinema.
The work done with the special effects is definitely excellent, represented in particular by the vampires, rendered with good computer graphics (but not always, there is also some handmade trick) and with a look that differs greatly from the ideal of the vampire that we all have. The vampires of "Priest" are bloodthirsty beasts, almost closer in graphic design to the lickers of "Resident Evil", which roar, move on all fours and jump right and left very quickly. The action scenes' choreographies are also good, very exaggerated, as we said, but definitely spectacular, especially in the long final fight on the train.
Between a shootout and a fight, there is also time for a frank jab against the religious institution, here represented by a State-Church that acts as a dictatorship, controls the thoughts and actions of citizen-believers and keeps them enslaved by instilling fears and manipulating their knowledge. In this almost Orwellian scenario, strongly pessimistic, which nevertheless does not renounce the Christian ideology condemning the Catholic one, the only immune character is a priest, but with marked tendencies to revenge and violence, hence also in tune with an anti-clerical vision. To give face and body to this unnamed character (unlike the comic where he is called Ivan Isaacs) there is an excellent Paul Bettany, now specializing in suffering religious roles (in addition to the angel of "Legion" we remember him as Silas, the murderous monk of "The Da Vinci Code"). By his side there is the always inexpressive Cam Gigandet ("Twilight"; "Pandorum"), in the role of Sheriff Hicks, the beautiful Maggie Q
("Die Hard - Live Free or Die Hard"), who plays the priestess sent after Bettany, Lily Collins ("The Blind Side"), the daughter of Phil Collins, here engaged in portraying the kidnapped niece and finally Karl Urban ("RED"), who gives face and canines to the evil vampire-human leader. In the role of the highest representative of the Church there is Christopher Plummer ("Parnassus") and in a very small role also Brad Dourif ("Halloween - The Beginning").
In short, "Priest" is a film without infamy and without praise, entertainment of the manner for an hour and a half with the brain turned off (or at least intermittently). It is watchable, but with the awareness that it will soon end up in oblivion.
Oh, I almost forgot! "Priest" is in 3D, but it is a conversion from 2D and the effect is definitely useless since the stereoscopy is used as little as possible and only works properly in the initial animated prologue and in the closing credits. The rest, if seen in 2D, is almost indifferent.
Rounded-up vote.
Watch the animated prologue of PRIEST
Comments
Comments (0)
Comments