I’m not going to spend much time with this movie. It was simply just there… like ‘LEGION,’ this reunion between star and director leaves me to bellieve that there’s some kind of link between the two they only understand, and when tackling yet another religious-based storyline, there’s so much that can be done, however, it once again seems to thrive on a simple note, some cheap scares and a droning approach which made me yawn more than once. So, based on the graphic novel series by Hyung Min-Woo, ‘PRIEST’ re-teams Scott Stewart and Paul Bettany for another tale about fighting marauding monsters. Here, Bettany's title character is not unlike the albino masochist he played in ‘DA VINCI CODE.’

I don't care much for Bettany in what must be a familiar role by now. It is Maggie Q who interests me—and I am sure most of the guys in the audience too. For the ladies, there is Cam Gigandet.

In an 'alternate world,’ a warrior priest (Bettany) from the last Vampire War now lives in obscurity among the other downtrodden inhabitants in walled-in cities ruled by the Church led by Monsignor Orelas (Christopher Plummer). When his niece Lucy (Lily Collins) is abducted by a murderous pack of vampires, the Priest breaks his sacred vows to venture out on a quest to find her before the vampires turn her into one of them.He is joined on his mission by his niece's boyfriend Hicks (Gigandet), a trigger-happy young sheriff, and a former warrior priestess (Maggie Q) who possesses extraordinary fighting skills, and looks so hot, I’d let her hunt me down any time she wants!

I have not seen or read Hyung's graphic novels upon which this film is based (nor do I care), but I can't imagine Hyung borrowing and recycling ideas and themes from movies like "BLADE RUNNER,’ ‘STAR WARS’ and ‘MAD MAX 2’ like what Stewart does here. ‘PRIEST’ opens like last year's turkey ‘JONAH HEX’—and degenerates into a shoot-'em-up type of video game with its leads blasting away scores of eyeless monsters that are meant to be vampires.

The dialogue is utterly crappy and, as expected, Bettany, Maggie Q and Gigandet get lots of ass-kicking time, especially against a Black Hat villain played by Karl Urban. Stephen Moyer (aka Bill Compton in HBO’s ‘TRUE BLOOD’) has a cameo here as Lucy's father).

At best, it’s a movie we’ve seen before, however, designed to entertain in different form. Don't bother watching this in 3D as it has nothing to enhance visually. I walked out with such a head-ache—to date I’m convinced there’s not way too much 3D viewing can be good for one’s eyes. The one thing about Priest that I am thankful for is its short running time!

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 GRADE: C- / GENRE: Suspense/Horror, Thriller, Western and Adaptation / ROARS: 2 out of 5

RATED: PG-13 / RUN TIME: 1 Hr. 28 Min.

STARRING: Paul Bettany, Karl Urban, Cam Gigandet, Maggie Q, Lily Collins

DIRECTOR: Scott Charles Stewart

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