Paul Bettany loves him a religious role. Flagellating sociopath Silas in The Da Vinci Code. A fricking angel in Legion. And now, he’s the titular Priest (or at least one thereof), in this dystopic sci-fi supernatural horror/action/romance hybrid.

This movie is SO GOOD.

The opening prologue sequence tells us that the priests are “warriors with extraordinary powers.” No kidding, prologue voice over guy (who I’m pretty sure is Alan Dale, and who also appears in the film). Y’see, a war was raging between humans and vampires for as long as anyone could remember, and humans were pretty much losing. But then the Church, our biggest defense against the darkness apparently, discovered there existed individuals with serious Crouching Tiger-meets-Equilibrium fighting mojo. These people were taken from their families and trained in the “art of vampire combat”; but now, the war is over, the remaining vampires are locked up in reservations to threaten the world no more, and the priests who brought about this victory are dismissed, disbanded and forced into menial labor, looked upon with disfavor by the populace at large. (They have a distinctive crucifix tattoo bisecting their faces so they can hardly, y’know, blend.)

So, our main priest (Bettany) gets word that his niece Lucy (Lily Collins) has been taken captive by vampires and he begs the Church authorities, headed up by the ever-brilliant Christopher Plummer, to allow him to return to duty. Refusing to believe that the monsters have returned, Priest’s request is refused: in fact, he is ordered to leave his niece to rot or face excommunication. Soldiers show up to take him captive, but, yeah, no. He and Lucy’s erstwhile lover, hick Sherriff Hicks (Cam Gigandet) head out into the wilderness to try to get her back – although it does seem like they’re quite leisurely about the whole thing; apparently a beloved girl kidnapped by vampires isn’t too much cause for concern. They ride across vast expanses of desert on awesome solar-powered lightcycle-esque bikes (the tech in this movie is very confused; gramophones exist alongside automated confessionals… I like it!), and we get our first glimpse of this movie’s vampires. And, oooh boy. No Edward Cullens here.

Instead, these vamps resemble nothing so much as Aliens, and the Priest takes them out in a manner that would make Ripley very proud. Before Legion, I would never have considered Paul Bettany a potential action hero, but he was a totally convincing badass there and continues to be here. Indeed, he is so damn good in this movie, his face a study in conflicted emotion that gives away both everything and nothing, that one wonders what the hell he is even doing here. Certainly Gigandet is way out of his league in their scenes together; what this CW reject is doing flying in Paul Bettany’s rarefied orbit is anybody’s guess. (But then, we all remember that Wimbledon movie, opposite Kirsten Dunst, so I suppose there is precedent.)

Also working just a little above her pay grade is Maggie Q as a badass priestess; she is perfectly serviceable, but doesn’t really sing in the role. She and Bettany do have one absolutely heart-aching scene together, however, when their unspoken and forbidden love is momentarily explored, but then it’s back to the action, back to the hunt for the missing maiden, and back to the revelation of a new kind of vampire: Karl Urban.

Urban is tremendous in his role as the priest gone very Dark Side, and seeing two such consummate performers as he and Bettany in a comic book vampire flick is both a revelation and just a little bit wrong. Urban is Angelus to Bettany’s Buffy, and they play the very palpable connection between these former comrades to perfection even as they battle to the death. The climactic scene, in which the skirmish is won but the war is just beginning, is supercool, and while I saw it in regular-D, I can imagine this movie might be one case in which the premium 3D admission price might well be worth it.

In a movie notable for the presence of two franchise vampires who yet play humans here (Gigandet was the tracker James in the first Twilight movie and Stephen Moyer, who plays our Priest’s brother, is Bill on True Blood), also worthy of note is the surpassingly beautiful Lily Collins. Assuredly the next It Girl, she is already signed on to play Snow White and The Mortal Instruments' leading lady Clary in 2012, and is very, very pretty. Plus, she can act! Mark my words, we’ll be hearing more from her.

But Priest really belongs to Bettany, and even if you don’t dig graphic novel-inspired movies, or vampire movies, or dystopic science fiction or any of the other genres this movie hits -- and more often than not subverts -- then I advise you to see it just for his truly awe-inspiring performance.

Paul Bettany: Action Hero. Who knew?

   -- Rachel Hyland