Priest seems like an unusual vehicle for Paul Bettany, but then judging by his film history, Bettany seems intent on deliberately seeking out a list of parts that will make Hollywood type-casters cower in fear. This 2011 entry to his CV sees him playing the unnamed title role, a former saviour of mankind, and now a redundant and forgotten relic from the all-powerful church's war against the vampires. Not exactly method acting territory...
On the positive side, Priest manages to deliver a pretty decent action film, without finding it necessary to resort to a gratuitous show of raining blood and severed limbs. Don't get me wrong, there is still a good dash of both, but somehow it feels more integral to what's on screen, rather than becoming the lowest common denominator in each of the numerous fight scenes. Pleasingly, the visuals also deliver on the same promise; from the stunning vista shots to the simple yet effective CGI vampires, the film certainly has a visual flair that doesn't rely on being too in-your-face to keep you entertained.
That said, there are some shortcomings. Despite the back story being relatively neat, the narrative of the film
itself doesn't seem to carry quite enough weight, with the storyline
never really reaching any kind of meaningful crescendo. The relationships between the characters are never really explored, meaning that despite one single tender (and forbidden) moment between the Priest and Priestess, we are left lumbering from fight to fight, with only the panoramic scenes of desert and/or destruction for company.
Overall, Priest is a relatively unexceptional film. Though it does bring a nice new take on the ever-popular humans vs. vampires storyline (which is commendable), there's not enough room given to really developing the characters to allow them to engage with the audience. Coupled with the restrained use of overly-bloody violence, I'm just struggling to see who was meant to be the core audience for this film. What's worse, Priest succumbs to what is one of the most annoying Hollywood traits, using the dying seconds of celluloid to optimistically set-up a sequel, which certainly in this case, is unlikely to ever get made.
On the positive side, Priest manages to deliver a pretty decent action film, without finding it necessary to resort to a gratuitous show of raining blood and severed limbs. Don't get me wrong, there is still a good dash of both, but somehow it feels more integral to what's on screen, rather than becoming the lowest common denominator in each of the numerous fight scenes. Pleasingly, the visuals also deliver on the same promise; from the stunning vista shots to the simple yet effective CGI vampires, the film certainly has a visual flair that doesn't rely on being too in-your-face to keep you entertained.
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| In hindsight, this probably isn't the best way to avoid National Rail's ticket inspectors... |
Overall, Priest is a relatively unexceptional film. Though it does bring a nice new take on the ever-popular humans vs. vampires storyline (which is commendable), there's not enough room given to really developing the characters to allow them to engage with the audience. Coupled with the restrained use of overly-bloody violence, I'm just struggling to see who was meant to be the core audience for this film. What's worse, Priest succumbs to what is one of the most annoying Hollywood traits, using the dying seconds of celluloid to optimistically set-up a sequel, which certainly in this case, is unlikely to ever get made.
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