Karl Urban Fought Another Marvel Star In This Terrible Comic Adaptation

This post contains spoilers for 2011's "Priest."

Taika Waititi's "Thor: Ragnarok" is one of the best of Marvel Studios' Thor-centered films. Waititi's knack for balancing conflicting tones shines brightly here, with a perfect amount of humor and pathos being modulated throughout. In the film, Karl Urban's Asgardian warrior Skurge is introduced as comic relief and evolves into a character haunted by a guilty conscience. Even though "Thor: Ragnarok" ended up cutting a heart-wrenching Skurge scene, the character stands out in Waititi's quirky narrative.

Urban is an industry veteran, so it makes sense that he'd worked with several Marvel stars before his one-time stint as Skurge. The most prominent previous collaboration might be with Cate Blanchett (Hela in "Thor: Ragnarok"), who starred alongside Urban in Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. But Urban also played villain to a Marvel veteran, Vision actor Paul Bettany, in the 2011 action horror film "Priest." While Bettany played Vision with multifaceted nuance across several Marvel projects, his heroic character in this Scott Stewart film (who is simply called Priest) is mostly one-note for someone on the path of righteous revenge. The movie marked Stewart's second collaboration with Bettany, the first being 2010's "Legion," the pulpy religious horror film that made a mark on streaming charts 15 years after its initial release.

In "Priest," Urban plays Black Hat, a vampire-human hybrid (!!!) who enjoys near-invulnerability under the sun. While a showdown between a priest and a vampire sounds badass, "Priest" isn't nearly as entertaining as "Legion." It's interesting to note that the film is based on Hyung Min-woo's brilliant manhwa (Korean comic) of the same name, which is notable for its deft genre fusion and eccentric art style. While the adaptation fails to make good use of such a solid foundation, what makes its supernatural premise stand out?

Picture this: Endless war between humans and vampires has dismantled modern society and established a religious theocracy. The vampires are eventually defeated, thanks to trained elite warriors named Priests, who are abandoned by the theocracy once peace reigns. Our titular Priest (Paul Bettany) sets out to avenge his family after a group of resurgent vampires kills them. This group is headed by Karl Urban's Black Hat, who seems to have some sort of past connection with our anguished hero. These broad story beats sound fun enough for a schlocky B-movie about vampires terrorizing a priest, but "Priest" doesn't make the most of its eccentricities.

Instead, it imbues Bettany's Priest with brooding seriousness, which runs parallel to Urban hamming it up as Black Hat, who is more akin to a vampire cowboy than to, say, Marvel's Blade. Urban's talents are underused here, as the story heavily revolves around our Priest's attempts to save his niece Lucy (Lilly Collins) from Black Hat's clutches. There's a showdown of sorts on a moving train that is especially anticlimactic, but this sense of disappointment is consistent throughout the film's 87-minute runtime. 

The most promising aspect of "Priest" is its gorgeous animated opening, brought to life by none other than Genndy Tartakovsky ("Primal"). To no one's surprise, such an exaggerated supernatural setting is better suited to animation, which is why everything that follows feels underwhelming by comparison.

Neither Priest nor Black Hat has anything interesting to offer beyond their designated roles as hero and antagonist. Whatever thrill the film provides lies in watching slimy, grotesque vampires being demolished by Priest's cross-shaped shuriken, mimicking something you would see in an anime. Unfortunately, these exciting elements are featured way after the halfway point, turning "Priest" into a heavy-handed slog with flashes of kinetic action.