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Released by: Warner Brothers
Released on: 5/17/2011
Director: Mikael Hafstrom
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Colin O'Donoghue, Rutger Hauer, Alice Braga
Year: 2011
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The Movie:
Mikael Hafstrom's 2011 Warner Brothers production stars Colin O'Donoghue as Michael Kovak, a young man in a small town who finds himself with a choice - he can either continue in the footsteps of his father (a sorely underused Rutger Hauer) and become a mortician or go to seminary school and become a Catholic priest. He explains to his friend that these are the only choices given to the men in his family, and so he opts for seminary school. Soon enough, however, Michael is having doubts as to the legitimacy of his faith and so when he tells the priest in charge he's dropping out, it's not really a surprise. He is told, however, that if he doesn't want to pay back the hundred grand in grants he was given for his schooling, he might want to reconsider and to help him think things over, he's shipped off to Rome where he heads to the Vatican to learn about the Roman Catholic rite of exorcism.
Doubtful as to the worth of this rite and figuring everything these days can be explained by modern psychology, he's sent to visit an exorcist named Father Lucas (Anthony Hopkins), an eccentric old man he brings him along on a couple of exorcisms, while a foxy female reporter (Alice Braga) pesters Michael for story tidbits. One case in particular, involving a young pregnant girl, gets to the two priests, and eventually they find themselves having to try to save the girl from what appears to be a legitimate demonic possession - the ultimate test of Michael's faith.
The Rite has a few things going for it. First of all, the cinematography is top notch. The movie is very well shot and it's chock full of atmospheric visuals and really impressive camerawork. Complimenting this almost perfectly is the score, which does a great job of making the emotional moments more memorable and the scarier scenes more frightening. On a technical level, the movie is an impressive one, a great mix of sound and vision with some great locations and a strong cast. The acting is very good across the board and the performances uniformly strong from all involved.
So with that said, on the flip side of the coin are the script and pacing problems that run rampant through the picture. The biggest problem with the movie is that it's predictable. If you've seen The Exorcist, you know very early on where this movie is going and how it's going to get there. This pretty much sucks all the suspense out of the film so that even the films that should have a fairly strong impact, chief amongst those being the exorcism scenes of course, fall limp. Add to this the fact that the movie feels about twenty minutes too long and you wind up with a film that should have been a whole lot more than it turns out to be. Though hardly a complete waste of time and impressive on a visual level, The Rite opts to play it safe, sticking within the confines of its PG-13 rating and in turn basically neutering a few set pieces that should have been scaring the Hell out of the audience. The film has no punch, no real suspense and only the most predictable of storylines and messages.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Warner's AVC encoded 2.40.1 widescreen 1080p high definition transfer is very nice, showing excellent detail and perfect color reproduction. Black levels are nice and inky deep throughout the movie but not at the expense of shadow detail, which stays strong. Texture is great, there are no compression issues to note, nor is there any obvious noise reduction. The image is clean and stable throughout, showing no problems with print damage, dirt or debris and while you might pick up on some crush in a few spots, this is otherwise a great looking presentation.
Also impressive is the film's English language DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track, which does a great job of spreading the score around and providing plenty of welcome background and ambient noise throughout the film to fill in the soundscape. Levels are properly balanced, bass response is strong but not overpowering, and dialogue is consistently easy to understand. This is a very engrossing and enveloping mix and it goes a long way to making the film seem a lot more interesting than it actually is. Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound tracks are also offered in French, Spanish and Portuguese with optional subtitles offered in English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese.
As far as the extras go, well, it's a bit of a disappointment really. In lieu of a commentary or lengthy documentary on the subject of exorcism and its place in the modern day Roman Catholic community, we get a seven minute segment called The Rite: Soldier Of God which includes some interviews with the cast, the director, and an exorcist named Father Thomas from California who shares his thoughts on the film and the concept behind it. It's interesting, sure, but it doesn't even come close to going into depth on what should have been a very interesting subject.
Aside from that, there's a fairly predictable alternate ending and thirteen minutes of extended and deleted scenes that didn't make the final cut, we can assume, for pacing reasons. Some previews for other Warner properties play before we get to the main menu screen, which also offers chapter stops and Blu-ray Live connectivity. All of the extras on the Blu-ray disc are presented in high definition. A standard definition DVD copy of the movie, with the same extras, is also included in the case.
The Final Word:
The Rite never quite hits its potential, instead it plays things safe and pads its running time with predictable character development scenes that don't wind up adding much to the film. From a technical standpoint the movie is well acted and very nicely shot and it does feature a few memorable set pieces, but this isn't one you're going to go back to time and time again. To Warner's credit, the Blu-ray looks and sounds almost perfect, even if the extras are slim.
Click on the images below for full size Blu-ray screen caps!
