Priest is a competent effects driven action picture that has a lot of potential and some cool ideas but ultimately falls short of being the awesome spectacle it wants to be.

Priest takes place in an alternate future in which humans have won a centuries long battle with vampires thanks to an order of warrior priests chosen early in life for the abilities needed to combat the undead. The world is a combination of a post apocalyptic wasteland and a high tech cyber-punk nightmare and people are kept in line by persistent fear. Fear of a vampire return is the tool the church needs to keep people in line but when it appears there has been a significant resurgence of vampire activity, the church balks at allowing the decommissioned priests to go after them. When vampires kidnap the niece of the wrong priest (Paul Bettany), however, he breaks church law to go after her. The Priest teams up with Hicks (Cam Gigandet), the girl’s boyfriend and sheriff of the town in which she lives, and is pursued by other surviving priests. Along the way he finds that things aren’t what they seem as the mysterious Black Hat (Karl Urban) shows up and sets his plan into motion.

Going into this movie I was really not expecting much. Given that this was director Scott Charles Stewart’s follow up to Legion, which also starred Bettany, I was really expecting this thing to be nigh unto unwatchable. Whatever else Priest is it has to be said that is better than Legion by a damn sight. I am not sure what happened to Stewart between films but it is hard to believe it is even the same director such is the difference in quality between the two.

Unfortunately, even though it is a lot better than the director’s last effort, Priest still falls far short of its own ambition and is just to the left of succeeding. The effects are good but just when you settle into this being  movie with good effects they will reach for something that doesn’t hold up. The majority of the effects work but there are enough that don’t to jar you out of the movie. The story follows suit and explores just enough of the characters to make the viewer realize that they are missing out on some interesting stuff. This is really too bad because there is compelling material here with an interesting take but the viewer is left wanting more and not in the good way.

The take on vampires is kind of odd insofar as they are blood sucking monsters that have no eyes and seem to be mindless drones. When Black Hat is revealed and we learn what he is the surprise that should exist is hamstrung by just how ordinary it turns out to be. This is yet another example of the film getting right up to the edge of being onto something and then stops short of taking the leap.

The story is not super new or original and once the set up is delivered it really just devolves into a race toward the climax but there are enough surprises and twists to keep the audience interested. There is no grand mystery here but the story manages to develop in interesting ways despite itself. The whole thing smacks of better drawn source material being condensed into movie form in a way that almost gets it all but leaves some important material out. I have never read the comic this is based on so all that is just pure conjecture on the way the film feels.

Despite these short comings, what the movie does it does well. The action scenes are exciting and well choreographed. The effects are generally convincing and are cool to see. The characters more archetypes than fully fleshed people but for as far as they go they are interesting and compelling enough for the audience to care.

The sets and art direction are really something to see. Costumes are detailed, unique and interesting. The backdrops and locations are equally intricate and well put together. This really helps sell the action on screen because it looks like a place you could go to and exist in although you probably wouldn’t want to unless you were a super hardcore badass.

The camerawork is very good here and there are more than a few shots that could hang on a wall if you chose to decorate your home in borderline B Grade sci-fi art. This compliments the locations in the film very well and ensures that you will always have something cool to look at in the film when the story loses you or the effects fall a bit short of satisfactory.

From a performance perspective, most of the actors in this are far too talented for what they are given but they apply that talent to elevate the material to a level above what it would otherwise be. I like Paul Bettany a lot and I was very sad for him after seeing Legion enough that it makes me wonder if he didn’t do this movie to make up for that one. Karl Urban is almost criminally talented and brings a truly sinister quality to Black Hat. Cam Gigandet really seems to need a new agent because I’ve liked him in everything I have seen him in but I never see him in very good movies. This is a better one than his normal offerings but not by nearly enough. Maggie Q acquits herself well as a rival priestess and Christopher Plummer manages to pull off being a huge douche without chewing too much scenery.

Conclusion [7.5 out of 10]

Priest is one of those movies that is hard to review because it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t terribly good either. It is worth seeing on blu-ray when it comes out on Netflix or is available through Redbox but it is really hard to recommend for the theaters when there is better material available. At the end of the day, if you keep your expectations in check you won’t be disappointed by Priest but after you watch it you probably aren’t going to think too much about it either.