Review: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
By Christine Petralia
Image courtesy of 20th Century Fox
June 25, 2012
*Spoiler alerts*
I only went to see this film because my boyfriend read the book and loved it. And normally, I'd prefer to read a book before I see a film, I just didn't have time to. So I went in with an open mind and was very pleasantly surprised and thoroughly entertained.
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter has something for everyone. A little bit of action, humor, romance and history (despite the fabrication of it, there are a lot of facts). As well as gore and horror, as the slaying of the vampires gets quite bloody at times. And the vampires are definitely not any of your Twilight or True Blood vamps. As a person who has seen both of the previously mentioned vampire stories, you can imagine my confusion with these vamps, as they are grotesque, can either sicken you, kill you or turn you, oh and they can't kill each other. In addition, they can be in the sunlight without sparkling or melting.
The film starts with a young Abe Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) watching as first his black friend gets beaten and taken away as a slave and then his mother is attacked by a vampire, gets sick from the bites and dies. He vows then that he will see revenge for her death. Fast forward about 15-20 years to a now grown Abe searching for and attempting to kill the man responsible, still not quite understanding that this man is a vampire. He fails miserably as he is attacked and almost killed himself.
A man, Henry Sturgess (Dominic Cooper), rescues him and explains about vampires. He says he will train Abe to kill vampires, but only if he agrees to his rules, one being that he must not see revenge for his mother's death. Basically, Abe must not let his emotions get in the way of these quests to slay vampires. As Abe moves to a different town and establishes himself in a general store, he studies to be a lawyer, while moonlighting as a vampire slayer. Sturgess sends Abe missions of who to kill. As time passes, Abe falls for Mary Todd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) against Sturgess' warning not to get close to anyone or make friends. Eventually, his old friend Will Johnson (Anthony Mackie) turns up and seeks some law help, as he escaped slavery.
Abe learns that the vampires are essentially gathering slaves to feed and eventually take over the country. As he gets more into politics, he makes it his mission to abolish slavery and hoping in turn to get rid of the vampires. Abe rises to become president and an all out war starts, with most of the country not really knowing that the vampires exists. Abe, at this point, has giving up hunting to focus on politics, being president, maintaing his family and winning the war that has broken out with the South. However, in a turn of events, the vampires kill one of his sons, which forces Abe to make a choice. He realizes he must take down the vampires before more lives are taken. Abe, Will, his other aide and his wife devise a plan to destroy the vampires by first cutting them at the source and then heading into battle with silver bullets.
And well, the rest is history, as they say. I quite enjoyed this film. Though my boyfriend said the book is much better, delving more into politics, Abe's family life, etc. But, as with most books-turned-to-films, you can only bring so much from a book to the big screen without making the film six hours long.
I think Cooper's performance was spectacular and Walker's portrayal of one of our nation's greatest presidents was also fantastic. One of the last scenes in the film is Abe and Johnson fighting off an army of vamps, on top of a train with an silver-coated ax (Abe's preferred weapon). This was quite possibly my favorite scene in the movie. It was nail-biting and beautifully done. Anyone who likes a little bit of history with a twist, action or a good ole' fashioned vampire film should head to the theater to check out this little gem.
Oh and we saw it 3D, but I don't think that aspect is necessary.
3.5 stars.
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