Movie Review: Priest

Priest


Humans and vampires have warred since time immemorial. The humans finally won with the introduction of the priests -- humans with special abilities and the only ones able to kill vampires effectively. No longer needed, the priests have lost their purpose and been cast to the fringes of society... until the vampire threat rises again.



Review
There's nothing at the end of the credits. I just had to say that first. :P

I enjoyed this movie. They are obviously setting themselves up for a sequel. There were some questions left unanswered that I will assume (giving them the benefit of the doubt) will be covered in the next movie installment. Those unanswered questions didn't detract from my overall enjoyment, so I'll give them a pass and grade up accordingly.

While I would normally suggest going to the source material for those answers, Priest by Hyung-Ming Woo and the movie have next to nothing in common. The name, the post apocalyptic setting, the social commentary on the church, and the vampires are about all the movie took from the manwha (Korean comic).

I bet you're saying something like, "What about that cross on his forehead? That's in the manwha." Uh yeah, it is. But in the manwha, it's a scar given to a man pegged as a heretic, not a tattoo that allies a father with the rest of his order. Let's just say this movie was very freely adapted and leave it at that.

Karl Urban and Paul Bettany gave great performances. Lots of emotion. I loved watching those two. This movie is definitely about character development and plot. The special effects and action sequences were icing on the cake.

Parents, there is animated bloody dismemberment and some strong language. Lots of people, vampires, and other things getting killed. I think this movie is classified horror (I'm a poor judge for that genre).


Previews
- Colombiana - This is a DVD movie. I like Zoe Saldana. She's a great actress. But I can't see spending theater prices to see this movie.

- Transformers: Dark of the Moon - I think Michael Bay has outdone himself with this installment. The trailers look amazing. I only hope the actual movie looks as good.

- Immortals - I am so THERE. This looks amazingly epic. I need to go brush up on my Theseus mythology.

- Straw Gods - You know, normally I wouldn't go for a movie like this -- nice guy pushed too far and snaps. Shades of Deliverance. However, Alexander Skarsgård makes it all worth it.

- Yellow Brick Road - A long time ago a whole town of people walked into the woods and disappeared without a trace. Some people hear something like that and use it as a warning to stay away from that town. Others hear something like that and decide they should investigate. I'm the former, so I guess I won't be seeing this movie.

- X-Men: First Class - I'm looking forward to this one. Oh hey, and in later news (hubby found this out), the dude with that thing on his chest that shoots out a red beam is supposed to be Havok. WTF?!

- The Change-Up - Definitely a DVD movie. The more times I see the trailer, the more that fact is made evident.