Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Starring: Benjamin Walker, Dominic Cooper, Anthony Mackie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rufus Sewell
Directed by: Timur Bekmambetov
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Horror
2012

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Abraham Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) harbors a secret as he rises to the highest office in the United States- he is actually a vampire hunter.

Review:

Tim: What an interesting idea. The idea of doing a revisionist history movie intrigues me. However, the end result is a massive disappointment. I wonder how good the book this film was based upon is- it would be cool to see if the author weaved the whole "vampire hunting" aspect into Lincoln's life in a way that was at least somewhat believable. That is the biggest problem with this film- the whole thing is completely and totally absurd. There's nothing here that is believable or realistic. The whole thing just comes across as silly.

The title itself just makes me laugh/cringe- Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. This is an idea that seems cool for the first three seconds, and then, just seems stupid. Is this really a movie that needed to be made? Was the real Abraham Lincoln so boring and forgettable that we had to make him a slayer of the undead? The entire movie never shakes the feeling that this whole exercise is ultimately pointless.

The story becomes more and more ridiculous as the film goes on. The initial scenes are fine- Abraham Lincoln's first brush with vampires is actually pretty interesting. I enjoyed the beginning of the film. However, when Lincoln teams with a vampire slayer, that's when things get ridiculous. First off, just by channeling his hatred (or truth), Lincoln is able to shatter a tree with one chop of his axe. Are you kidding me? It's one thing to claim Lincoln fought vampires, it's another thing to claim he had superhuman powers, especially when they come out of nowhere.

The film just gets worse from there. The idea of vampires fighting for the Confederacy is interesting, but it never realizes its full potential here. The whole story of Lincoln's rise feels rushed and unconnected with the vampire storyline. The movie itself was just a mess. We have all these scenes, and they often appear ridiculous. The horse stampede actually made me laugh. It could have been a really, really cool sequence, but having Lincoln leap from running horse to running horse was just too much for me. Yes, this film was about Lincoln being a vampire hunter, but it needed to be a little more grounded in reality. The train sequence was fine, but again, it was taken to ridiculous lengths.

Benjamin Walker was average as Lincoln. He had a few good moments and occasionally embodied the President, but he was not a strong enough actor to carry this film. He's not a movie star, and this movie needed a better actor in the lead role. Dominic Cooper was well cast as Henry. I actually thought he was one of the strongest parts of the entire film. Anthony Mackie was fine, but he had nothing of any real substance to do. I really like Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and thought she was a nice addition to the cast as Mary Todd. Rufus Sewell was fine, but I am getting a little tired of him always playing the villain. He does his usual good job, but it just felt far too expected for my liking.

So, how does this all stack up? The idea of this crazy, revisionist movie blending historical fact and supernatural horror is a pretty fascinating combination. However, the package this arrives in leaves so much to be desired. The film is a weak, flawed effort that never gets anywhere close to its potential. I really did not have much fun at all with this movie. Sure, there's a few cool sequences here and there, but as a whole, this is a pretty stupid, disappointing movie.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 5.5



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