Priest 3D: Let there be vampires!

A 3D movie that doesn't suck in 3D? Is it possible? I think so, and it's name is Priest. 

In a futuristic world where the earth is left destroyed and barren after a war between man and vampire, an ancient group of warriors known as the priests end the conflict with their superior war tactics. However, years after the end of the fighting, the priests are useless and are forced to blend back into a society that no longer needs them. Soon, a rouge group of vampires led by a former-priest-turned-vamp attacks a small farming family in the empty wasteland. The titular priest, along with the help of a wasteland sheriff named Hicks, sets out to avenge the death of the family (which we find out is in fact Priest's brother) and save their kidnapped young daughter. The ruling clergy deems this quest unholy and excommunicate Priest, sending out his former comrades to hunt him down. 

The most impressive thing about Priest was definitely the visuals of the film. It managed to capture the tone of the bleak future while keeping it visually pleasing and interesting. Dark cityscapes, open wastelands, deep vampire lairs, Priest had em all. And along with those impressive landscapes, the CGI and special effects also ended up being above par. The re-imagining of what vampires should look like was awesome, there were no sparkles or H&M wardrobes in this one, and the Familiars (humanoid vampires that aren't fully transformed yet) were reminiscent of Count Orlok from Nosferatu. 

Another interesting aspect of Priest was the story. Based on the 1998 Korean comic by Hyung Min-woo, the plot kept me interested throughout the entire way through and even left me wanting a sequel in the near future. That's how you can really tell if you liked a movie or not, if you want to see a sequel, you liked the film. 

Also, I liked the social commentary regarding the church and religion hidden within the story. Throughout the film, the church is portrayed as brain-washing, insensitive, and holding true to the belief that going against any little thing that the church says is directly going against God himself.  A few examples of this are the church propaganda videos that play throughout every inch of the large city and the confession booth where the "sinner" talks into a microphone and receives pre-recorded messages from a screen in front of them.

 However, there were things I didn't like about Priest as well. First off was the characters. The acting was fine, however the fact that almost none of the main characters had names was something that caused me to feel as if the characters lacked depth. I found myself referring to Maggie Q's character as "girl priest" and Karl Urban as "cowboy guy". 

Another thing I noticed was that there were things that the movie expected you to already know from the comic, one of these things being the origin of the Familiars and what they were. Luckily for me, a friend of mine who saw the film with me had read the comics and informed me of a few things so that I understood. 

So, overall, Priest was a stylized, futuristic, steampunk, sci-fi action thriller that kept me interested throughout the entire film. It wasn't a masterpiece but it wasn't terrible either. It was the type of movie that you'll see on the New Release shelf at Best Buy in 6 months and think to yourself "Oh, Priest was pretty good I guess." and not the type of film that you'll be running out to purchase.