When you look at director Timur Bekmambetov's previous efforts like Nightwatch, Daywatch, and Wanted, you instantly think he would be a perfect fit to make a movie like "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter". The examples I mentioned all have a visual style that is a ideal for a movie about how the 16th President of the United States wages a war against the undead while leading the nation towards freedom and equality.
The story begins with a young Abraham Lincoln having some early experiences dealing with racism, slavery,...and vampires. Years later, after a failed attempt at revenge on the vampire that killed his mother, Lincoln is befriended by a man named Henry Sturgess who teaches him everything about vampires including how to destroy them.
Lincoln learns how an ever growing army of vampires, led by collaborators Adam and Vadoma, is preparing to take over the country using the slave trade, politics, and war as the primary methods to achieving their goals. Lincoln, as we all know, goes on to study to law and enters in to politics which eventually leads to winning the Presidency. What we never knew until now was how he was also moonlighting as a killer of the undead during this rise to power.
Benjamin Walker's performance as Mr. Lincoln is about as across the board as the movie itself. At times, you feel like he's playing the part perfectly and at other times you are laughing at the absurdity of it all. Dominic Cooper, Anthony Mackie, and Jimmi Simpson all do a decent enough job with their supporting roles, but Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Rufus Sewell are just wrong as Mrs. Lincoln and Adam.
The intent of this movie is purely to entertain and on a lot of levels it does just that. "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" is pure, indulgent fun that ranges from exciting to laughable over the course of its 105 minute running time. If you take the movie too seriously you will be disappointed, but if you just kick back and expect to have a good time with your big bucket of popcorn, you will be mostly satisfied.
If you are trying to decide whether or not you should see the movie in 3D, I will say there are a lot of scenes that blatantly take advantage of the technology with explosions and body parts flying at the screen, blood splattering all over the place, and horses leaping out at you during a truly over the top stampede/chase/fight scene. All that may not be enough to justify the extra cost for a movie you may not even remember a month from now, but then again you're already indulging yourself, so you might as well go all the way!
Sounds like a good one to see with my little brother.
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