After the war with the vampires ends, the remains of human civilisation live in peace inside walled cities under the church's protection. The Priests, warrior monks with super human abilities, are forced to live with the rest of humanity and never fight again. But when his niece (Lily Collins) is taken by a mysterious man in a black hat (Karl Urban) one of the remaining Priests (Paul Bettany) must break his vow of peace and hunt them down with a local sheriff (Cam Gigandet). But the man in the black hat has an army behind him, and the Priest will have to battle not only hordes of murderous creatures, but also fellow priests sent to hunt him down, before he can save his family.
Horror based Kung fu with a touch of classic western at its best in this film. Jam packed with incredible excitement at every turn, it's as if someone crossed Van Helsing with The Searchers, perhaps more so in the case of the latter. The post apocalyptic future where the story is set has been given a decent amount of thought, but again if one changes a few minor details it wouldn't be much different from John Ford's 1956 classic. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing, indeed it is a refreshing idea because it doesn't make this film a remake, yet has all the qualities of a classic. Add to that extraordinary special effects and you've got a hell of a good film - from terrifying vampire monsters, dynamic slow motion effects and death defying stunt fights the action just never lets up and strikes awe with every second. Unfortunately the one major flaw with Priest is that the acting doesn't quite measure up to the rest of this film's standards. Bettany isn't terrible but he doesn't have his usual flare, and the rest of the cast just feel very forced and wooden. They feel like they belong in the story, but in a very generic manner than means that none of them really stand out.
If you leave the acting aside, Priest can easily be classed as a classic wrapped in all the excitement of a dynamic of a modern day kung fu thriller.
