Priest. Rated M (horror violence and infrequent coarse language). 88 minutes. Directed by Scott Charles Stewart. Screenplay by Cory Goodman. Based on the graphic novel by Min-Woo Hyung.
Unlike the regrettable Cowboys and Aliens, here is a film that takes its genre mash-up seriously – and achieves what it sets out to do quite superbly.
Set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland that is part Wild West frontier and part bleak, fortress-like city, the prologue (with a generous nod to the story’s graphic novel origins) neatly illustrates the set-up, which has resulted in the plague of vampires being securely locked away in massive, prison-like reservations.
The warrior priests, who led the human resistance against them, are now treated like pariahs – and along with what is left of the human race – are corralled into high-walled cities within a strict, God-fearing society. When word reaches the city that a young family of settlers has been attacked by a new breed of vampires, the priests are reluctantly drawn into battle again for the survival of the human race.
Stewart (Legion) has extensive experience as a visual effects craftsman (Sin City, Blade Runner, Pirates of the Caribbean) and Priest is never less than a dazzlingly stylish visual treat – helped considerably by Richard Bridgland’s (AVP: Alien vs Predator, Resident Evil) marvellous production design, Don Burgess’s (Source Code, The Book of Eli, Spider-Man) evocative cinematography and Christopher Young’s (Hellraiser, Spider-Man 3) atmospheric original score.
Goodman manages to wrangle the seemingly disparate story threads into an entirely serviceable, richly-allegorical screenplay – providing the excellent cast (including Christopher Plummer, True Blood’s Stephen Moyer, Maggie Q and Karl Urban) with enough grit and vampire-menace hysteria to keep it all powering along most entertainingly.
Boasting a perfectly-judged performance from the charismatic Paul Bettany (Legion, Master and Commander) in the title role (pictured), Priest is an immensely engaging film with occasional epic flourishes – of which the eerie vampire hive sequences and the desert-bound finale featuring a priest versus human vampire slap-down onboard a magnificently-realised train are just two perfect examples.
This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.
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