Priest [DVD] [2011]

This film is one of the best I have seen this year. The special effects are really good and the acting is top notch. the storyline is just fantastic and makes you want to keep watching to see what happens to the characters. Its obvious there is going to be a second as the storyline doesnt actually finish at the end of the movie, but a priest two would end it off nicely. Well worth a watch if your into your sci fi movies. And dont worry that there are vampires in it. they do not sparkle.

Why all the 1* reviews? I have seen so many worse films and taken by itself and on its own terms I thoroughly enjoyed Priest, the world it was set in was well realised well and, whilst simple in terms of plot, the film was well done and Paul Bettany and Maggie Q were excellent.

Brazil. Dark City. Franklyn. Blade Runner. Equilibrium. The Matrix. Mad Max. Pitch Black. Underworld. Blade II. Constantine. The work of HR Giger and Westerns in general. If you are fans of these movies and the sci-fi/fantasy genre, plus the new wave of the quirky western mish-mash, then this is the movie for you. Director Scott Stewart, who also directed Paul Bettany in the religious horror shoot-em-up `Legion', delivers a shameless homage to all these movies whilst also blending something original into the mix. Out of the blend comes a highly enjoyable post-apocalyptic action picture that arrives at a frontier town of gunslingers, sheriffs and fraudulent moonshine salesman via a futuristic freight express train that thunders across a `cursed earth' familiar to any 2000AD reader.

An opening animated crawl that plays over the opening credits tells of great war between humans and vampires that, after the defeat of the vampire race, lead to humanity retreating inside walled-off Orwellian futuristic cities - administered by a ruling religious council and surrounded by the cursed earth. When a surprise re-appearance off a horde of salivating vampires attack a western-style homestead in the barren wasteland, killing the husband and wife custodians and kidnapping the daughter, The Priest (Paul Bettany) disobeys the dictats of the ruling council of elders and journeys off into the cursed earth on his aircraft engine-powered desert motorcycle to rescue her. He is accompanied by Hicks (Cam Gigandet), a young sheriff and fiancé of the kidnapped girl known as Lucy (Lily Collins). They encounter vampire `familiars', a Priest retrieval team sent to hunt them down and a terrifying vampire cowboy (who may or may not be the transformed former colleague of The Priest) who has returned with an evil agenda. There is also a suggestion that The Priest himself may also have a connection to the kidnapped girl, adding weight to his determination to track her down.

If you are a fan of the genre, you will be acutely aware that there are legions of people who will simply not understand the aesthetic of this style of motion picture. They will dismiss the movie as `rubbish' and be unable to fathom your interest or your delight. Ignore them and revel in your interests. I thought this movie was excellent and very creative. I could quite justifiably see the movie twice in cinemas and not consider it a waste of time or money. The cast are worthy of note: the husband and wife who don't survive the first reel are played by Stephen Moyer from True Blood and Madchen Amick whom you may remember from Twin Peaks from years ago. Christopher Plummer and Alan Dale (Yes! Jim Robinson from Neighbours!) head up the council of religious elders. Cam Gigandet (the lead evil vampire from Twilight) plays the honourable sheriff with grit and naïve strength, Maggie Q plays a member of the Priest retrieval team with controlled grace, and Karl Urban is a riot as the evil vampire cowboy known only as `Black Hat'!

Scott Stewart has produced a brilliant picture with Priest and has also made good use of the 3D camera system that helps to immerse you in the post-apocalyptic environment. It is somewhat of a relief to not have to sit through a botched 3D conversion that plagued 2010's Clash of the Titans. The CGI vampires are also suitably disgusting and resemble the eyeless denizens of hell seen previously in Constantine. I am hopeful a sequel to this movie will be produced in the near future. The post-script epilogue suggests there is still a story to be told. Great stuff!