"The Order"
Review: “The Order”
Posted on September 8, 2003 by The Crystal Lich
As if the Catholic Church didn’t have enough to worry about.
Alex Bernier (Heath Ledger) is of the few remaining members of an arcane
order of priests known as Carolingians, those knowledgeable in the old evils
such as demons, ghosts, and the undead. The modern Catholic Church wants
nothing to do with such superstitions, but when evidence of an abomination
called a Sin Eater turns up, an inner circle priest of the Vatican named
Driscoll (Peter Weller) recruits Alex to hunt down and destroy the creature.
Alex’s hunt quickly leads him to the doorstep of William Eden (Benno Fürmann),
whose views of the world and the afterlife may push Alex to make a choice
that could shake the very pillars of Heaven…. or at least Vatican City.
At first glance, it looks as if writer/director Brian Helgeland simply imported
his cast from “A Knight’s Tale” and recast everyone to make a thriller, but
the truth is that “The Order,” originally named “Sin Eater,” had a much bumpier
road getting made than all that. While trying to find a budget and a studio,
the story itself evolved from a murder mystery with philosophical and religious
underpinnings into a supernatural thriller that calls into question the very
nature of man’s relationship with God. Worse yet, the newest version of the
script firmly points the finger at Catholicism as being a sleeping monster
that could awaken at any time.
The story makes good points both for and against aspects of religion, not
the least of which is the ability to ignore a problem until it becomes too
big and too relevant to pretend it doesn’t exist. What hurts it, however,
is the quickness that the audience is supposed to suspend disbelief and accept
that these Carolingians are used to dealing with and defeating things that
do more than go bump in the night. Likewise, some of the special effects,
such as Sin Eating itself, are excellent and drive the story, while other
effects look like afterthoughts, things left half done to see if there’d
be any money left to finish them. This is the same thing that underwhelmed
“Reign of Fire” a few summers ago, substituting a montage of magazine articles
in place of watching the world burn; if the theatrical poster shows London
being incinerated by dragons, the least the producers could do was spend
some cash to show a little of it!
There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that this film and its subject matter
was quietly released with as little fanfare as possible so as not to draw
to much hellfire from protesters the world over, but “The Order” manages
to be both spooky and intriguing throughout and gel into a solid thriller.
The core of the story, however, concerns who and what a Sin Eater is and
does, so that won’t be discussed here. Suffice it to ask this question: if
you had the keys to the kingdom of Heaven but could not yourself walk through
the gate, how would you use that power?
(a two and a half skull recommendation out of four)
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