If prequels such as Exorcist: The Beginning were actually released prior to the original, this film probably would have ended what was a legendary franchise before it even began. However, that is why “Exorcist: The Beginning”, directed by Renny Harlin, is just that: a prequel, created to shamelessly prey on its pioneering predecessor and guaranteed to fatten the producer’s pocket based on name recognition alone.
“The Beginning” starts 1500 years ago in an east African desert battlefield reminiscent of the Crusades. Then the film jumps to 1949 where we meet Mr. Lankester Merrin (Stellan Skarsgard), the priest previously known as Father Merrin. He lost his faith after being forced to participate in Nazi war crimes, which still haunt his dreams.
Mr. Merrin is approached by a British collector who easily persuades him to join the excavation of a 1500-year-old Roman Catholic Church in Kenya that strangely seems to be in perfect condition. He is sent along with Father Francis (James D’Arcy), who admires the work Merrin did as a priest and tries to entice him back into the Priesthood. Once they make it to the British camp (located in a very remote part of Kenya), they meet up with the beautiful Dr. Sarah Novik (Isabella Scroupco). Novik eventually becomes caregiver to Joseph (Remy Sweeny), a small boy who is believed to be possessed.
Although this movie bears the name of a box office heavyweight, its punch is similar to that of Paula Jones in celebrity boxing: weak. It is starts off reasonably well, mainly due to the acting of Skarsgard, who is attempting to find out the history behind this random church, while simultaneously struggling with his own faith. However, it gets drawn out and boring faster than you can say three “Hail Marys”.
The element that made the original “Exorcist” such a good film was that it took you on a psychological ride that drew you in from the beginning with little dependence on special effects. In “The Beginning,” the few attempts at actually scaring anyone just end up being unwarranted random special effects such as the computer-generated hyenas that gruesomely tear Joseph’s older brother to shreds, or the maggot-covered stillborn baby – don’t ask. By the time you even get to the near comical exorcism (in which Merrin is humped by the devil himself), you may wonder if the director even saw the original.
Overall the film is anticlimactic and as predicable as the seven-day weather forecast in Antarctica. I left the theater with my pockets feeling violated. However, there is one thing we can learn from this film – wait, no there isn’t.