Movie Review: Priest " Snazzy Visuals Lose Out to Dull, Uninspiring Story

On paper, action and horror can seem like a match made in heaven. Suspense and fright meets combat and destruction, complete with a Supernatural presence. This combination has been hit-or-miss in the last decade, with the scales tipping on the side of miss. Flicks such as Blade and Underworld fared better using this formula than say Doom or the last few resident evil installments. So the brief 87 minute feature that is Priest, had a choice of either sticking to the pattern its predecessors in the genre have followed, or try shaking things up. Let's just say, one will be able to tell exactly how this will be handled after the first five minutes. Based off the graphic novel series, the story chronicles the war between vampires and humans. This war is similar to the Crusades fought in the Holy Land centuries ago. Vampires dominated the battles for years, until the church found a secret weapon in a group of gifted individuals, creatively titled "Priests." This blessed army captured the momentum and vanquished the vampires into a quarantined area of sorts; away from the handful of fortress-like cities that still remain. After the war was won, the Priests were disbanded and scattered throughout the Cathedral cities.
The most talented of the bunch, Priest (Paul Bettany), roams the streets in robes stolen from George Lucas' Jedi closet. Keeping a reluctant low-profile, he senses that the vampire creatures are still along the outskirts of the massive city walls. His instincts prove true, when a young local sheriff (Cam Gigandet) goes looking for Priest, alerting him about a deadly attack on his brother's (True Blood's Stephen Moyer doing a cameo - or favor) land. Priest learns that his bro's 18 year-old daughter (Lily Collins) has been taken by this rogue colony, and begs the head ...

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