I've got to admit I wasn't sold on Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter when I first heard of it. The whole concept felt extremely cheesy, and even the addition of Timur Bekmembetov, a director who thoroughly impressed me with Night Watch and Wanted, couldn't ease the niggling doubts I had about the project. Thankfully, those doubts proved to be wrong.
Framed using passages from Lincoln's secret diary, the film imagines a double life for the former Presidient of the United States, one of a hunter of the undead, spurred on by the death of his mother at the hands of a vampire. Receiving training from seasoned hunter, Henry Sturges (Dominic Cooper), Lincoln is pitted against head vampire Adam (Rufus Sewell), with the future of America in the balance.
It's a credit to Bekmembetov and screen writer Seth Grahame-Smith, author of the book on which this is based, play the movie straight. It helps ground the story, and makes the sight of Lincoln, stove pipe hat and all, decapitating scores of vampires with his handy axe a bit easier to swallow.The movies interpretation of vampires and vampire lore, while somewhat old school, is fun and inventive, as is using important events in American history as the story's back drop. The film is shot with Bekmembetov's signature flair, with a combination of slow motion and smash cuts adding some great intensity to the action scenes. One early set piece involving a horse stampede, with one of the animals being used as a projectile, proves to be a standout. The story is quite strong, only falling down in a few places, especially the handling of a twist in the second act. In terms of pacing, the scene comes out of no where, and you would have to have your eyes closed not to see the twist coming.
Benjamin Walker plays Lincoln quite well, both as a young man thrust into a world he doesn't understand, and as the strong and wise father of a nation we all know. He plays well off Cooper, who adds a bit of depth to cliched mentor role. Mary Elizabeth Winsted, as love interest Mary Ross, lends the movie some heart in between the decapitations and gravity defying action, but it's Rufus Sewell, for me anyway, who steals the show. He always plays the bad guy well, but he a real sense of menace to proceedings without ever feeling over the top.
Despite my earlier misgivings, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter proved to an entertaining and fun movie, exactly what you want from a summer blockbuster.
Framed using passages from Lincoln's secret diary, the film imagines a double life for the former Presidient of the United States, one of a hunter of the undead, spurred on by the death of his mother at the hands of a vampire. Receiving training from seasoned hunter, Henry Sturges (Dominic Cooper), Lincoln is pitted against head vampire Adam (Rufus Sewell), with the future of America in the balance.
It's a credit to Bekmembetov and screen writer Seth Grahame-Smith, author of the book on which this is based, play the movie straight. It helps ground the story, and makes the sight of Lincoln, stove pipe hat and all, decapitating scores of vampires with his handy axe a bit easier to swallow.The movies interpretation of vampires and vampire lore, while somewhat old school, is fun and inventive, as is using important events in American history as the story's back drop. The film is shot with Bekmembetov's signature flair, with a combination of slow motion and smash cuts adding some great intensity to the action scenes. One early set piece involving a horse stampede, with one of the animals being used as a projectile, proves to be a standout. The story is quite strong, only falling down in a few places, especially the handling of a twist in the second act. In terms of pacing, the scene comes out of no where, and you would have to have your eyes closed not to see the twist coming.
Benjamin Walker plays Lincoln quite well, both as a young man thrust into a world he doesn't understand, and as the strong and wise father of a nation we all know. He plays well off Cooper, who adds a bit of depth to cliched mentor role. Mary Elizabeth Winsted, as love interest Mary Ross, lends the movie some heart in between the decapitations and gravity defying action, but it's Rufus Sewell, for me anyway, who steals the show. He always plays the bad guy well, but he a real sense of menace to proceedings without ever feeling over the top.
Despite my earlier misgivings, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter proved to an entertaining and fun movie, exactly what you want from a summer blockbuster.
