Unfortunately, while the film offers plenty of visual interest, the script begins to feel very familiar very quickly.
Vampires and men are engaged in a centuries old battle. Hiding among a throng of downtrodden humans is a Warrior Priest (Paul Bettany). When vampires kidnap his niece (Lily Collins), he comes out of obscurity, disobeying church authorities to rescue her before she is bitten.
Why is Priest rated PG-13? The MPAA rated Priest PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, disturbing images and brief strong language.
Paul Bettany sports an impressive acting resume, often playing strong secondary characters. Among them are an albino monk (The Da Vinci Code), an abusive Southern father (The Secret Life of Bees), a British statesman (The Young Victoria), a seafaring doctor (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World), a controversial scientist (Creation), a police officer (The Tourist) and a figment of the imagination (A Beautiful Mind).
In this screen adaptation of Min-Woo Hyung’s graphic novel, the British-born actor takes a central role as an unnamed priest whose natural killing abilities have been honed in the art of vampire extermination. (It doesn’t come easily, he says. It just comes.) But these aren’t those schoolboy bloodsuckers from Twilight. These faceless, slobbering creatures are hatched in cocoon-like, embryonic sacks and greedily devour anything with blood coursing through its veins—including chickens that are beheaded and chopped up with meat cleavers (seen on screen). The humans who ask to be bitten become vampire slaves.
When the film opens (after a bloody animated introduction), the vampires have been contained in reservations (much like the aliens in District 9). Under the harsh leadership of the church, the rest of the population has holed up behind city walls where they live in a dismal state of hyperreligiosity that demands frequent confessions through video conferencing. Out of work, the highly skilled priests (who are defined by a cross tattooed on their foreheads) are forced to find menial jobs in the community.
One night, Priest returns home to find a man outside his door. Hicks (Cam Gigandet who plays a vampire in Twilight) is the sheriff of an outpost that has just been attacked by vampires. However, to maintain their control over the people, Monsignor Orelas (Christopher Plummer) and the other religious superiors refuse to acknowledge the report. Among the captives is Priest’s niece. Forced to choose between family and the church, Priest follows Hicks to the outpost in search of Lucy (Lily Collins). In retaliation for his decision, Monsignor Orelas sends four of the former vampire fighters, including one woman (Maggie Q), to bring back the errant man.
Unfortunately while the film offers plenty of visual interest, the script begins to feel very familiar very quickly. Combining a futuristic setting (where nitro-fitted motorcycles are recharged by solar panels) with the pulp fiction of a Dime Western, the story, set to a thunderous, heavy score, also nails together a bushel of clichés from other genres as well, such as The Matrix, Star Wars, Clone Wars and Van Helsing. Both Priest and Hicks speak with a gritty growl that is either a nod to Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry or the result of too much blowing sand on the set.
Frequent bloody violence runs amok in this production (though sexual content is virtually non-existent) as characters are slashed, stabbed, impaled, shot and viciously beaten. While the brutality might be tempered ever so slightly by the fact these religious warriors are fighting a nondescript enemy, there is no mitigating the script’s negative attitude toward religion in general.
Given to a life of sacrifice and celibacy, Priest lives a lone and dreary existence in a bleak world. So bleak, in fact, that the Cullen clan looks positively delightful.
Why is Priest rated PG-13? Priest is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for intense sequences of violence and action, disturbing images and brief strong language.
Violence: Frequent violence includes stabbings, beheadings, beatings and weapon use. Characters are shot, impaled and cut up. A man is hung on a wall with a knife through his shoulder. Men are hung on crosses. An animation sequence portrays killings, a severed head and other limbs, ample amounts of blood, warfare and bullets. A man threatens others with a knife. Dead bodies litter a room after an attack. Animals are slaughtered on screen. A man is hit in the head with an axe. Skulls and decomposing bodies are seen. A train explodes. Characters are involved in a motorcycle accident. Numerous characters suffer bloody injuries. A girl is kidnapped and threatened. A vampire attacks others.
Sexual Content: Brief comments are made about celibacy.
Language: The script contains a moderate number of profanities, a couple of scatological slang words, some terms of Deity and a strong sexual expletive used in a nonsexual context.
Alcohol / Drug Use: A man pours a glass of wine for a girl.
What elements of the classic Western are included in this story? Does the script take some of these features (such as the black hat) too seriously, or are they meant to be a tongue-in-cheek detail?
Once the war with the vampires is over, the Priests are out of work and forced to take menial jobs, if they can find them. How does this compare with war veterans in our society? Are they often left without opportunities for meaningful work? Like the Priests, what sacrifices have they made for the welfare of society?
What oppressive restrictions do the religious leaders put on the people? Why are they afraid to admit to the vampire attacks?
A vampire and human girl are much friendlier in the teen romance series Twilight. Hugh Jackman plays an employee of the Catholic Church fighting vampires and ogres in an attempt to stop evil from taking over the world in Van Helsing.