Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter

Last night, I had attended the midnight showing of the newest film from producer Tim Burton, and that is "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter." And for those who don't know, let me answer your question. YES, they made a film with that title. It was actually based on a novel of the same name, written by Seth Grahame-Smith. Now honestly, I'm really not into the whole "Presidents doing some adventurous things" because it's mostly been happening with current ones. However, when it happens with presidents that have passed on, like Abe Lincoln and they make him into a vampire hunter, then it works. I haven't read the novel, but I'm hoping to aquire it someday.

But that's not what you want to hear, you want to hear about the movie that's based on the book. How does it work out? Well, it gave me what I was expecting...but at the same time it felt like it wasn't enough.

The film tells the story of young Abraham Lincoln, who lost his mother to a vampire after trying to help his friend whose being beaten by the vampire's goon. Years later, he meets up with a man named Henry, who trains him to hunt down vampires, eventually leading to the one who killed his mother, only to realize that now he's got himself in deep shit, when the head vampire is a plantation owner in the south, leading to a crossing battle of actions and words, leading to the Civil War.

For a film as ridiculous as "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," you expect this film to be a complete toungue-in-cheek ridiculous. It does have a couple moments like that, where you laugh at how ridiculous it was, but it's different for the rest of the film. The film basically dives into parts of Abe's life, like when he meets Mary, up to the events of the Civil War. That bothered me, because it made parts of the film feel a bit loose and a bit unfinished. It should have dealt with one part of Abe's life that would lead up to certain moments. That would have worked better. Another thing is that they establish throughout the film that silver is a vampire's weakness, which is inaccurate on many levels, since silver is a weakness to WEREWOLVES! I'm sorry, but how could you screw that up?! It'd be better if Lincoln and the soldiers had a cross bullets or neckaces of garlic with them, and they'd have to deal with the struggles on if they had faith or not. But my biggest problem with the movie is the tone of it, taking itself seriously, and it shouldn't. When you think of something like "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" you'd expect a so-bad-it's-good kind of movie like "Piranha 3D," or "Cowboys and Aliens". It just doesn't seem to take advantage of itself and it tries to act like a supernatural bio-pic. But it doesn't feel as well done on parts, ESPECIALLY in it's second-half, which doesn't get any better until the climax. From what I heard, there was so much changed and cut from the book. I would have said that the writers were disregarding the author's work...but the writer of the screenplay WAS the author of the play, Seth Grahame-Smith, so I guess somethings I can let go.

The casting of this film was decent from what I saw. Benjamin Walker as Abe Lincoln does a pretty decent job, and I liked his portrayl in the film. However, when he's at the point where he's an old man, he just doesn't fit the role of Lincoln anymore.  One thing that I would have loved to see, is Abe's father getting a larger role in the film, and for him to be played by Liam Neeson. Because, when you look at Walker's face, you could have sworn that they wanted to get Liam Neeson in the film as his dad, but I guess he turned it down, in exchange for "Taken 2." Dominic Cooper plays Henry, the man who trains Abe. He gives a pretty good performance, but the twist that this character has is given away when you first see him at his house. Thanks a lot, movie. You spoiled your own twist at the beginning. Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays Abe's wife, and she was...alright. Not much else to say that would spoil the movie. Except that when Abe tells her that he hunts vampires, she's completely fine with it. Then later on, when she sneaks up on him, she asks him if he's hiding anything from her, which is his axe. Uh, quick question: He just said he was a vampire hunter, so...don't you think he would have a weapon on him just in case anyone tried to sneak up on him? Rufuss Sewell plays the head vampire, and I enjoyed how he handled this role pretty well. If he was intimidating, then he can be, but it only comes to that during the climax.

The action scenes, I'll admit were pretty good for the most part. When they were shown, it's pretty cool, and with it being in 3D, it's EXCELLENT! Like at one scene where a knife is thrown and cuts a spark, or when someone's getting whipped and it comes flying at your face. There's also a scene where another character named Speed rescues Lincoln and his friend, which actually reminded me of "Devil May Cry 3" in a way. Not only that, but even some of the slo-mo action scenes actually worked, and it felt right when it was used. Take note, Paul Anderson.

Overall, "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" has some redeeming qualties, in terms of action scenes and 3D, but it took itself too seriously, and it also feels rushed on certain parts. It doesn't quite live up to as expected, but then again, all I expected was Abe Lincoln fighting vampires, and I got that. But if you want to see this movie, just for it's title alone, then I'd suggest catching a matinee showing.

Rating: 5/10