The Film:

Praying won’t save Priest, based off of some Korean manwah (comic), as it’s pretty much dead on arrival. A grab bag of ideas and concepts strung together by editing, it’s kind of appalling we have to see this in the summer. While some outright disliked Legion, I found the overly convoluted sci-fi/religious hokum to be a giddy little guilty pleasure, warts and all, but director Scott Stewart’s follow-up in Priest is just down right guilty of being stupidly boring.

There’s more plot in the opening animated interlude, which feels strangely out-of-place, Priest offers nothing to care about or to get excited about. Apparently, vampires and humans have been fighting for centuries, and when humans were pushed towards the brink of extinction, they walled up a city, protected by some apparent Christian Church, and periodically thanks God we’re still alive. In order to wipe them out, the Church invents these bad-ass priests to kill the vampire menace.

The film squanders any potential from the premise, with its tired, run-down cliches used in almost every facet of the film: action, 3D (theatrical), dialogue, and in its ending which has more faith in itself getting a sequel, than a Christian hoping to meet Jesus. Even though the above paragraph hints at a futuristic intriguing plot, Priest is anything but. Laughably trying to ape John Ford’s The Searchers, the film follows a priest acting against the orders of the Church, who don’t believe there’s a vampire menace, as he tries to save his niece from vampires. Done and done. At 87-minutes, the film feels longer, which is odd, since there isn’t much to the film. Oh, right. It has slow-motion action, which pads the time out.

At least Legion had some sort of of heart and soul to it, no matter how silly it was, Priest is a dull bastard of wasted potential. It wastes the bad-ass Karl Urban as the villain, it wastes anything interesting to say about its Totalitarian attitudes of the Church, it wastes its neat Blade Runner-like setting, and ultimately, it wastes your money. Just say halleluiah, halleluiah, that I’m saving you some money. Amen to that, huh?

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: This is another fantastic HD release from Sony. The picture is near-perfect. Strongest of details, the brightest of colors, and the cleanest of prints, videophiles will love this. Audiophiles will too, as the DTS is one aggressive son-of-a-gun. Bass is incredibly deep and robust. Surround speakers are always engaged. Good stuff.

Commentary: Director Scott Stewart, Writer Cory Goodman, and Actors Paul Bettany and Maggie Q offer up a solid track, full of info and tidbits, worth of your time, if you care. If not, the below documentary is just as good, if not better.

Bullets and Crucifixes: Picture-in-Picture Experience: Everything about the film is discussed and analyzed, through storyboards, interviews, raw on-set footage, and everything in between.

The Bloody Frontier: Creating the World of Priest: Not on the comic, but cast and crew discuss the look of the film’s futuristic setting and the staging of the action scenes.

Tools of the Trade: The Weapons and Vehicles of Priest, which covers what the title suggests, Deleted Scenes in SD, and your typical Trailers and BD-Live features round out the extras.

The Film: Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

No doubt the higher 3D ticket prices as well as IMAX prices helped. Other interesting finishes include: Thor at number 3 with another $15.5mil (collectively now at $145mil); Fast Five at number 4 with another $10.6mil (collectively now at $186.2mil); and Priest at number 6 with another $$4.6mil (collectively now at $26mil).

The Hangover Part II and Kung Fu Panda 2 open this Thursday, a day earlier due to Memorial Day Weekend.

Source: Collider

Still strong at number three is Universal’s Fast Five (review here) with another $19.5, bringing its total domestically here to $169 million. Even better for Universal is that the film is still performing extremely well overseas, and when you add its domestic and foreign intakes together, the sequel has netted a whopping $441 million in just a handful of weeks.

Screen Gems’ Priest opened at number four with a limp $14 million. The film’s 3D was post-converted, and didn’t look to bad, but studios are pinpointing the post-conversion backlash on why the film underperformed. Stewart Scott’s Legion performed better than this follow-up.

Next weekend bring back the pirates from Disney in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Source: Coming Soon

(May 6th)

Thor

The IMDb plot: “The powerful but arrogant warrior Thor is cast out of the fantastic realm of Asgard and sent to live amongst humans on Earth, where he soon becomes one of their finest defenders.”

3D Option? Yes.

Jon: One of the hardest Marvel characters to adapt, in my opinion, is Thor. Yet, after numerous stills and trailers, I’d say director Kenneth Branagh nailed the right formula. It looks funny, action-packed, and riveting, something a superhero film should be. Will you believe in the God of Thunder? You should. See it.

Donny: I’m ready to watch Thor bring down the hammer. I have a feeling Marvel is going to rock this story in a big way. See it.

(May 13th)

Priest

The IMDb plot: “A priest disobeys church law to track down the vampires who kidnapped his niece.”

3D Option? Yes.

Donny: I’m not into 3D vampires. I don’t understand why people can’t just put teeth on a real person. Just saying. Skip it.

Jon: That’s cool no one liked Legion. I understand why. I still think this could be kinda fun due to the story, the budget to help the director’s vision, and Karl Urban. But – will it be a sloppy CGI-fest? That’s what sorta hurt Legion, was the super campy CGI. This could be good, Sony certainly is banking on it, and the 3D could be useful, but until we review it – Skip it.

A Serbian Film

The IMDb plot: “An aging porn star agrees to participate in an “art film” in order to make a clean break from the business, only to discover that he has been drafted into making a pedophilia and necrophilia themed snuff film.”

3D Option? No.

Jon: One of the most controversial films ever is finally getting a proper American release, yet it won’t be the original 104-minute version. How will this NC-17 cut, which has about 9 minutes of footage deleted, be? Will this cut ruin the powerful effects and the political intentions? There’s two camps of people when asked about this film are split into: Camp 1) without seeing it will outright dismiss it; and Camp 2) will enjoy it solely for the sex and gore, which mind you, isn’t the intention. So, I ask again, how will Invincible Films’ cut treat this powerhouse of a film? See it…but with extreme caution (review here).

Donny: I have no desire to see this flick. Skip it.

(May 20th)

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

The IMDb plot: “Jack Sparrow and Barbossa embark on a quest to find the elusive fountain of youth, only to discover that Blackbeard and his daughter are after it too.”

3D Option? Yes.

Donny: Totally ready to see Depp bring Jack Sparrow back to life. See it.

Jon: I had no faith a Gore Verbinski-less Pirates movie would be as good as any of his films, until I saw the trailer. Mermaids + Zombies +Swashbuckling action like the first film = see it.

(May 27th)

The Hangover Part II

The IMDb plot: “Phil, Stu, Alan and Doug travel to Bangkok for Stu’s wedding.”

3D Option? No.

Jon: Ready for Round 2? Will this be as funny as the first one? Odds are it probably won’t be, and the few trailers – while funny – feels a little like leftovers. The whole Bangkok thing feels a bit convenient, which is sad, since they could have just partied with me in my wholesome city and got plenty of material. Skip it.

Donny: LOVED the first one and even though this looks like an exact copy of the original I’m still stoked about it. Don’t fix what’s not broken. See it.

Kung Fu Panda 2

The IMDb plot: “Po joins forces with a group of new kung-fu masters to take on an old enemy with a deadly new weapon.”

3D Option? Yes.

Donny: Didn’t dig the first one that much and I’m not really looking forward to this one. Skip it.

Jon: Jean-Claude Van Damme voices the character of Master Croc. I must see this. Actually, the story seems pretty neat of the birth of gun powder and the death of hand-to-hand combat, so I think it might be worth your buck. See it.

The Tree of Life

The IMDb plot: “The story centers around a family with three boys in the 1950s. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence.”

3D Option? No.

Jon: Perhaps the artiest film ever to feature dinosaurs, but a return visit to Terrance Malick seems rather anti-summer huh? To me, Malick is hit-or-miss, maybe it’s my mood those days, as the trailer looks spiffy and I’m eager to see the science-fiction elements mixed with the drama. See it.

Donny: This looks beautiful, but boring. I’m gonna skip it and wait for the blu-ray.

May Spotlight

Hobo with a Shotgun

The IMDb plot: “A homeless vigilante blows away crooked cops, pedophile Santas, and other scumbags with his trusty pump-action shotgun.”

3D Option? No.

Donny: I am so excited about this flick. Rutger Hauer kicking ass and taking names sounds like a good time to me. See it.

Jon: This is great, sick sh!t, folks. Fans of Troma – when Troma was good – will love it, as I proudly told you here already. See it.

That’s the first month of Summer 2011 right there for us. Should be plenty of escapism, and while we’re waiting for these films to come out, tell us what you are seeing or skipping and why. Then, keep it here all month long for our top-notch reviews! Only on Killer Film!

Coming to 3D and traditional theaters May 13th, director Scott Stewart (Legion) showcases a world ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampires. Paul Bettany is Priest, a legendary warrior priest during the last Vampire War, who now lives in obscurity among the other human inhabitants in walled-in dystopian cities controlled by the Church. But when his 18-year-old niece is abducted by a murderous pack of vampires in the desolate wastelands outside, Priest breaks his sacred vows and ventures out to find her and seek vengeance upon those responsible, especially their brutal leader (Karl Urban). Priest is joined on his crusade by his niece’s boyfriend, Hicks (Cam Gigandet), a local outpost sheriff, and Priestess (Maggie Q), a member of his former legion of vampire-killers who has otherworldly fighting skills.

Source: IMP Awards

PRIEST, a post-apocalyptic sci fi thriller, is set in an alternate world — one ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampires. The story revolves around a legendary Warrior Priest (Paul Bettany) from the last Vampire War who now lives in obscurity among the other downtrodden human inhabitants in walled-in dystopian cities ruled by the Church. When his niece (Lily Collins) is abducted by a murderous pack of vampires, Priest breaks his sacred vows to venture out on an obsessive quest to find her before they turn her into one of them. He is joined on his crusade by his niece’s boyfriend (Cam Gigandet), a trigger-fingered young wasteland sheriff, and a former Warrior Priestess (Maggie Q) who possesses otherworldly fighting skills.

Source: Shock Till You Drop (via Priest Facebook)

Source: CBM

See it in 3D May 13th, 2011.

Source: IMP Awards

Battle: Los Angeles, Priest, Just Go With It, and Justin Bieber: Never Say Never will be getting ads during the pre-game show.

The Losers director Sylvain White and Legion and Priest director Scott Stewart. Either way, we will know who soon, as the studio is keen for a Thanksgiving 2012 release. The script has been written by Tron Legacy, writers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, who took a different approach to the film. I guess we will see soon. Thoughts?

Priest will open on May 13, 2011.

Until then, look for Priest arriving in theaters May 13, 2011.

The official synopsis: “Priest is set in a world ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampires. Paul Bettany is Priest, a legendary warrior priest during the last Vampire War, who now lives in obscurity among the other human inhabitants in walled-in dystopian cities controlled by the Church. But when his 18-year-old niece is abducted by a murderous pack of vampires in the desolate wastelands outside, Priest breaks his sacred vows and ventures out to find her and seek vengeance upon those responsible, especially their brutal leader (Karl Urban). Priest is joined on his crusade by his niece’s boyfriend, Hicks (Cam Gigandet), a local outpost sheriff, and Priestess (Maggie Q), a member of his former legion of vampire-killers who has otherworldly fighting skills.”

EW has the film’s first official still.

The film opens May 13th, 2011 from Screen Gems.