Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, disturbing images and brief strong language.
Starring Paul Bettany, Maggie Q, Cam Gigandet and Karl Urban
Directed by Scott Stewart (Legion)
Definitely not cute Twilight-like vampires in this one.
A legendary Warrior Priest from the last Vampire War now lives in obscurity among the other downtrodden human inhabitants in walled-in dystopian cities ruled by the Church. When his niece is abducted by a murderous pack of vampires, Priest breaks his sacred vows to venture out on an obsessive quest to find her before they turn her into one of them. He is joined on his crusade by his niece’s boyfriend, a trigger-fingered young wasteland sheriff, and a former Warrior Priestess who possesses otherworldly fighting skills.
Based on a Korean comic book series, Priest is what you get when you combine a vampire horror movie with a spaghetti western…and throw in a pinch of Blade Runner. I know what you’re thinking…that actually sounds pretty good…well it’s not. And honestly this is the second movie that Director Scott Stewart (who also worked with Bettany on Legion) made look really good in the trailer…and left me totally disappointed.
Speaking of Paul Bettany, we’ve seen him play the religious renegade role before. He was the self-abusing albino nutcase Silas in The Da Vinci Code and the archangel Michael in Legion. This time he plays a priest who’s more special ops than preacher. The back story was provided in an animated sequence that looks like it took 15 minutes to draw…which is a real shame because it was actually pretty interesting. Anyway, this short cartoon explains how the priests were once the only warriors capable of stopping the vampires and during the last vampire war, the Earth was all but destroyed. The vampires lost and are now quarantined and the priests are sent to the unemployment lines.
Oh, and they are really easy to spot because they have a giant red cross tattooed on their faces.
But wait it gets better.
Enter Karl Urban, the Clint Eastwood rip-off, who also happens to be the…wait for it…SPOILER WARNING…first human vampire. OK that concept was kinda cool – but nowhere near cool enough to save this movie.
Priest has too much noise, too many clichés and not enough heart. The biggest sin Priest commits is that it wraps up without any ending to speak of — just a clear indication a sequel is coming our way. I’m not sure I can forgive that, I say Skip It.
SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
Older teens who have seen a few scary movies or action films should be fine. There is no sex and the language is fairly typical for a PG-13 film.
Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):
Q: What’s the message/theme of this movie?
A: There is a scene in the movie where the main character asks to have his power reinstated. His superior refuses to believe there is a vampire threat and during their conversations he says, “You will not shake that faith.” And Priest responds with this question, “What good is that faith, when it’s a lie.”
Q: How do you suppose we—as serious Christ-followers—should react to this movie?
A: We see a similar question being asked about faith, not when it’s a lie…but when it is without good deeds. In other words, in the film the character is questioning his faith because what he sees and what he is being told by the “religious experts” are contradicting. And in this passage James tell us that if what we say we believe is not put into action…there is room for concern. In fact he says “Faith without works is dead” (James 1:26).
Q: How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?
A: So let’s take a moment to take a quick inventory of our faith and our lives.
- In what areas do the things we say and the things we do contradict one another?
- What areas of our faith (or what we believe) do we back up with action?
- What areas of our faith have potential for growth?
- What is one thing we can do this week to make that area stronger and healthier?
