Movie Review: Priest

What it had going for it: the always excellent Paul Bettany in the lead role and the sleek post apocalyptic style based on the graphic novel from which the movie was drawn.

What it had going against it: everything else.

It was a cliche from the beginning. And in the middle. And at the end. From the first few moments of set up, it was clear who the bad guy was going to be and that it was going to haunt Priest (Bettany). From the first moments, it was clear that there was going to be extreme antagonism from the rest of the clergy, particularly the Monsignor played by Christopher Plummer.

I give it credit that it didn't rely *too* heavily on CG. There was a lot of excellent make-up work and some lovely wire-based fight scenes. The use of colors, or more accurately the lack of color, was powerful if not original.

It was clearly set up for a sequel. I doubt it is going to get one. Which is almost too bad, because the sequel might have been more interesting. A showdown between the Priest and the Queen might have been more worthwhile than the big climax of this movie.

It was worth the $1.20 we paid to Redbox it, but not a penny more, really.

-k