The Rite (DVD/Blu-Ray) - Dir. Mikael Håfström. Starring Colin O'Donoghue, Anthony Hopkins, Alice Braga.
Typical exorcism movie made a little less typical by Anthony Hopkins.
Michael Kovak (Colin O'Donoghue) is a young man pushed into the Catholic priesthood by his funeral director father. When he attempts to drop out after being ordained, his superior convinces him to instead attend a two-month exorcism course in Rome.
There, he meets a journalist investigating the course (Alice Braga, who seems somewhat squandered in a room full of Catholic priests) and Father Lucas Trevant, an "unorthodox" veteran exorcist played by Anthony Hopkins.
It's Hopkins who gives The Rite whatever standout qualities it has among the legions of other Exorcist knock-offs. Fans should know what to expect from the legendary actor: he's curt one moment, compassionate the next, and able to switch with a swiftness that would make anyone but Anthony Hopkins look like a crazy person.
Director Mikael Håfström builds tension and develops his characters well. It's a shame that it couldn't have all gone into a more interesting premise.
"What were you expecting?" Father Trevant asks when Kovak shows his disappointment with their first fairly pedestrian exorcism. "Spinning heads and pea soup?"
It's a joke that makes sense at that point, when The Rite is still dancing the line between psychological and supernatural horror. But spinning heads and pea soup is almost exactly what we get later on when the film abandons all pretense of ambiguity and Satan is all but running around the room spanking his bright red buttocks. Objects are moved and bent telekinetically. People speak with creepy voices and break out in demonic rashes. An evil mule is involved.
It's foolish, and none of it makes any particular sense, but The Rite delivers what it promises. It's creepy, atmospheric, well-shot, and more than capably acted. Catholics and horror fans should be pleased.
Rated R for the evil frogs in league with the evil mule.
3.5 out of 5
Black Death (DVD/Blu-Ray) - Dir. Christopher Smith. Starring Eddie Redmayne, Sean Bean, Carice van Houten.
Dark and violent drama about the black plague in England.
In the days of the first bubonic plague outbreak, a monk (Eddie Redmayne) is recruited by a band of soldiers led by Boromir... er, "Ulric" (Sean Bean) to guide them to a village rumored to be a sanctuary from the disease.
The film deserves respect for its frank and realistic portrayal of conditions in medieval England. In the brutal conflict between Christians and pagans that becomes its focal point, it avoids taking sides-that is, both of them are depicted as equally horrible.
At the film's start, a narrator ponders whether to blame God or demons for the plague striking the country, while a rat-the true carrier of the disease-is shown wandering completely ignored among the afflicted. It's a clever image meant to stay with us as we watch the violence and hysteria grow.
At least, that seems to be the idea. In reality, it's a little tricky to pin down what, if anything, Black Death is actually about. The symbol of the plague is haphazardly dropped and picked up again at various points in a story that deals with witch hunts, roving bandits, asceticism, vengeance, hatred, and love without ever really tying them together. There are veiled attempts to draw parallels to modern society, but it's tough to see what point the filmmakers are getting at when they simultaneously glorify and demonize religious fundamentalism. The main character undergoes a transformation that is dressed in all the trappings of an ironic downfall, but his personal journey is too fragmented to give it meaning.
What's left is a solid action movie littered with the unfinished husks of greater ideas. It might almost have been better as a brainless and brutal adventure film.
Rated R for black death, sword death, mace death.
3.5 out of 5
