May 10, 2011
This movie has been absolutely panned in the nationals, but really it’s not as bad as all that. Nowhere near as awful as Van Helsing, for example, with which some critics have unkindly compared it.
It is a very dark dystopian fantasy, extremely violent for a 12A cert, and unleavened by the impish humour that distinguishes Thor and other comic book adaptations – though to be fair, this is based on a long running series of graphic novels, which I suppose is a cut above comics in seriousness. One is often reminded of the bolshy peasants near the start of Monty Python and the Holy Grail – ‘How do you know he’s a king?’ ‘He’s the only one who isn’t covered in sh*t.’
But why must it be funny? The film portrays a grim world, almost barren after generations of war against peculiarly disgusting vampires, in which the remaining humans either huddle together in fortified cities or scratch a subsistence out of the grey dust in tiny, vulnerable settlements. Everyone is reduced to poverty. The weather is permanently shitty. There are no trees. The Church is all-powerful, having successfully ensured the survival of humankind by identifying and training an elite band of super-warriors known as Priests.
Priests are the only humans fast enough to fight vampires. Supposedly they are all dead, and the Priests, with no further use for their mad skills, are left to shift as best they can in a society that, understandably, regards them as weird and dangerous. But are the vampires really all dead? (What do you think? Ed) An attack on the lonesome homestead of the hero’s brother during which his pretty teenage daughter is abducted leads to a conflict with the Church and disagreeable discoveries.
The cast is top-notch, with Paul Bettany as the Bogart-esque anti-hero with a wry twist to his smile and a problem with authority. He brings some much-needed complexity and sensitivity to what is basically an ass-kicking role, and for a sandy chap with blond eyelashes he is quite extraordinarily beautiful. His side-kick in his quest to find out what happened to his family is the scrumptious Cam Gigandet, and the baddy they seek is the splendidly evil Karl Urban. You will see from this that everyone has a notable pedigree in vampire fantasies – even the hero’s soon-to-be-deceased brother is played by that bloke from True Blood. The heroine is another priest, played by the excellent Maggie Q. Clearly she and Priest have feelings for each other, but their powers depend on celibacy, so their yearnings must remained unfulfilled. The scene in which they almost give way is powerful, I would say moving.
The alternate society is richly imagined, the script literate and thoughtful (the original creator of the graphic novels, Korean artist Min-Woo Hyung, co-wrote). The FX are first-rate, though a tad predictable, and I wasn’t hugely convinced that coughing up an extra fiver for the 3D enhanced my experience that much. But on the whole I would recommend this movie to any fantasy fan – it has a lot going for it.
It is a very dark dystopian fantasy, extremely violent for a 12A cert, and unleavened by the impish humour that distinguishes Thor and other comic book adaptations – though to be fair, this is based on a long running series of graphic novels, which I suppose is a cut above comics in seriousness. One is often reminded of the bolshy peasants near the start of Monty Python and the Holy Grail – ‘How do you know he’s a king?’ ‘He’s the only one who isn’t covered in sh*t.’
But why must it be funny? The film portrays a grim world, almost barren after generations of war against peculiarly disgusting vampires, in which the remaining humans either huddle together in fortified cities or scratch a subsistence out of the grey dust in tiny, vulnerable settlements. Everyone is reduced to poverty. The weather is permanently shitty. There are no trees. The Church is all-powerful, having successfully ensured the survival of humankind by identifying and training an elite band of super-warriors known as Priests.
Priests are the only humans fast enough to fight vampires. Supposedly they are all dead, and the Priests, with no further use for their mad skills, are left to shift as best they can in a society that, understandably, regards them as weird and dangerous. But are the vampires really all dead? (What do you think? Ed) An attack on the lonesome homestead of the hero’s brother during which his pretty teenage daughter is abducted leads to a conflict with the Church and disagreeable discoveries.
The cast is top-notch, with Paul Bettany as the Bogart-esque anti-hero with a wry twist to his smile and a problem with authority. He brings some much-needed complexity and sensitivity to what is basically an ass-kicking role, and for a sandy chap with blond eyelashes he is quite extraordinarily beautiful. His side-kick in his quest to find out what happened to his family is the scrumptious Cam Gigandet, and the baddy they seek is the splendidly evil Karl Urban. You will see from this that everyone has a notable pedigree in vampire fantasies – even the hero’s soon-to-be-deceased brother is played by that bloke from True Blood. The heroine is another priest, played by the excellent Maggie Q. Clearly she and Priest have feelings for each other, but their powers depend on celibacy, so their yearnings must remained unfulfilled. The scene in which they almost give way is powerful, I would say moving.
The alternate society is richly imagined, the script literate and thoughtful (the original creator of the graphic novels, Korean artist Min-Woo Hyung, co-wrote). The FX are first-rate, though a tad predictable, and I wasn’t hugely convinced that coughing up an extra fiver for the 3D enhanced my experience that much. But on the whole I would recommend this movie to any fantasy fan – it has a lot going for it.
