Quick Review: The Rite (2011)

The Rite was one of those movies that we wanted to love, because Anthony Hopkins is just one of those guys who inspires us to love, but in the end, we just couldn't truly love this movie. Not completely, anyhow.

This is one of those "crisis of faith" movies, intermingled with the backdrop of exorcism. Good exorcism movies are hard to come by; sure, there's a good or decent one now and then, but none have really ever come close to doing what The Exorcist did.

It's always a treat to watch Sir Anthony do his thing though, isn't it? Even when he's starring in a movie that doesn't quite hit that high level of "good," he's always interesting to watch. It's no different here, as he plays a controversial exorcist that performs very controversial exorcisms.

Controversy!

We liked a lot of this movie, but it was the last reel that really threw us off. We won't spoil anything for those of you still waiting to catch this one on DVD, but it just lacked the impact that it should have had, especially with Hopkins in the driver's seat, so to speak.

It did have its moments though...

...and it had Sir Anthony, which is never a bad thing.

As exorcism movies goes, this one was pretty good, although once again, it kind of lost the grip it had on us by the time it started winding up. Still, flaws or not, it's always good fun to watch Sir Anthony do his thing, especially when his thing is being creepy. He's getting older, you know, so we are happy savoring what he gives us, while we can. That sounded really morbid... Anywho, The Rite makes for a decent rental, or and even better "wait until it comes on cable" type of experience.

C+

Those ladies look like they need a Sexorcism. Zing!