Thursday, Sep. 29, 2011

Priest

 

What an awesome preview. It was dark. The action moved fast to the industrial grind of digital music. Paul Bettany, a great actor, accepted a role as the stoic title character – how can this miss as a cutting-edge action flick? Vampires, that’s how…vampires, and the fact that this film has multiple personalities. It’s dystopian. It’s a tale of religious despotism. It’s a Western. It’s a futuristic, sci-fi “Van Helsing.” It’s a popcorn creature feature. But it’s not good at any one thing because it goes in too many directions. Any depth is squandered with the characters being drawn and quartered – can you imagine a director advising one of the actors on how to play a scene…you’re a renegade priest, so play it like a Clint Eastwood cowboy while you’re slinging these silver cross ninja stars at the vampires during the train heist. Are screenwriters sitting in rooms in L.A. brainstorming about the most absurd scenarios they can use vampires in? Can we all just assume at this point that vampire plots should be staked and laid to rest? Even “True Blood,” which is the bar-setter in fang fables, is making witches and werewolves its focus and using vampires as a character dimension. Give “Priest” its last rites and let’s move on. Not worth it.