With all of the superhero movies being released into theaters this summer, there's been a lot of discussion about superhero overkill and how Hollywood needs to take a break from comic book movies. As someone who was once into comics, I disagree with this, as there are a lot of good stories in comic books, both superhero and otherwise. I would, however, like to see Hollywood lay off of using comic books in their marketing of movies. They need to realize that "based on the graphic novel", or even better, "based the acclaimed graphic novel", means nothing to most of the public, especially when you consider that they don't know what a "graphic novel" is. I think that this kind of marketing can hurt movies like Priest.

An (nicely) animated opening sequence tells us that Priest is set in an alternate reality (presumably in the future) where humans have been at war with vampires for centuries. As this war has turned much of the Earth into desolate wastelands, people live in giant walled cities which are controlled by the church. Religious soldiers known as "Priests" were used to combat the vampire menace and, thanks to them, vampires live in prison-like areas. When a Priest (Paul Bettany) learns that his brother's (Steven Moyers) family has been attacked by vampires and that his niece (Lily Collins) is missing, he asks Monsignor Orelas (Christopher Plummer) for permission to investigate this, but is denied. Defying orders, the Priest heads into the wasteland where he joins local sheriff Hicks (Cam Gigandet) in the search for Lily. The Priest soon learns that the vampires haven't been playing by the rules and that they are mounting an assault against humanity. Even worse, the church has sent a group of Priests out to retrieve our hero.

I've been out of comics for several years now, and I wasn't familiar with the title Priest. (At first, I got it confused with the DC/Vertigo title Preacher. Honest mistake.) I did some research on Priest and even if I had known about the comic book, I don't think that I would have associated it with this movie, as the plot-lines sound very different. The comic deals with a resurrected and now immortal priest hunting for fallen angels. This actually sounds a lot more interested than the film we were given.

In the end, Priest is a confounding film. Why would someone spend $60 million on a movie which looks just like a bunch of other movies? Some of the weapons used in the movie are cool, and again, the vampires offer something new, but otherwise, this is a knock-off of other things. If nothing else, I expected the movie to be a scathing indictment on organized religion, but even that didn't happen. How ironic that a movie about bloodsuckers would be so anemic.

Priest will make one think twice about joining the clergy on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and the Disc carries an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 25 mbps. The image is very sharp and clear, showing no overt grain and no defects from the source material. This is a highly stylized film where the colors has been sucked out of everything. However, the black tones look very good and the image is never overly dark or bright. This 2D version still offers very nice depth and the level of detail is noteworthy. The Disc holds a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 3.0 Mbps. This track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. Say what you will about the movie itself, but this track rocks! The stereo effects are nicely detailed and illustrate things happening to the left or right of the screen. The surround sound effects are great, especially during the train fight scene, where the howling wind becomes a totally separate character. The subwoofer effects really pack a punch during the action scenes, most notably when the vampires pounce.

The Priest Blu-ray Disc contains an assortment of extras. We begin with an AUDIO COMMENTARY from Director Scott Stewart, Writer Cory Goodman, Paul Bettany and Maggie Q. The movie can also be watched in "Bullets & Crucifixes" mode, which offers picture-in-picture interviews with the filmmakers & cast and behind-the-scenes footage. The Disc contains seven DELETED & EXTENDED SCENES which run about 13 minutes. We get a longer version of the primary flashback, as well as more footage of the final fight scene. The only truly new moment is a new addition to the coda. "The Blood Frontier: Creating the World of Priest" (13 minutes) examines the look of the vampires, the sets, and the locations. We see concept art and hear the filmmakers discuss their goals with the look of the movie. "Tools of the Trade: The Weapons and Vehicles of Priest" (11 minutes) has Property Master Max E. Brehme showing off the various weapons from the movie, combined with comments on how the pieces were designed.