Since appearing in movies like The Da Vinci Code, and Legion, it seems Paul Bettany’s niche in Hollywood is finally getting defined. He has the looks and acting demeanor that go well with religious iconography and demons, and in this new movie called Priest, Bettany puts his assets to good use as a vampire-hunting, bike-riding priest of the future.

The movie, Priest has the feel of Blade (the knives), Judge Dredd (the fortress), and Da Vinci Code (the hood) all together. Priest is set in the far future in a world where humans and vampires have fought for ages. The concept comes from a Korean comic book created by Hyung Min-woo. In the movie, humans are holed up in a Church-controlled fortress, protected from preying vampires in the outside world. One priest goes against church rules and goes out hunting for the vampires that kidnapped his niece. He is accompanied by his niece’s boyfriend, a sheriff of the wasteland and a warrior priestess with uncanny fighting skills.


Bettany’s Priest rides a motor bike in the desert in his mission. It has huge wheels to handle the loose sand and seems part jet airplane. It’s just one of the tools he uses. On his body, he carries bladed weapons, including crosses that transform into throwing knives, like shurikens. He uses these against onslaughts of evil vampire minions. Interestingly, they appear similar to the demons in the movie Constantine.

Priest is basically a science-fiction Western. It’s directed by Scott Stewart. He also wrote the screenplay together with Cory Goodman. For those who don’t know, Stewart gave us the supernatural thriller Legion, which of course, also starred Bettany. Legion was his directorial debut and his style also shows in Priest. Stewart used to be a senior visual effects man of the company The Orphanage, which had produced special effects for movies like The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Grindhouse, and Iron Man.


Stewart’s foray in movie directing has been noticed by a lot of people, film viewers and filmmakers alike - and his love for the action/horror genre is pretty obvious in the kind of films he dishes out. Spiritually deep, creative, and packed with action and radical production design, his movies are likely to be remembered in history and be examples of how movies change in time.


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