Movie Review: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
In recent years, the mash-up novel, a work of fiction which combines a pre-existing text, often a classic work of fiction, with elements of popular genres such as vampire or zombie stories, has become quite popular. The first and arguably most successful of these was Seth Grahame-Smith’s 2009 book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Now the mash-up novel has been brought to movie screens with an adaptation of Grahame-Smith’s second book. Don’t let the silly-sounding title and premise fool you, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is a pretty kick-ass action/horror film which, despite its flaws, is worth checking out.
When Abraham Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) was just a boy, his mother was killed by a mysterious man. But when Lincoln tries to get revenge years later, he discovers that the man is a vampire. Lincoln is rescued by Henry Sturges (Dominic Cooper), who teaches him about vampires and trains him to kill the bloodthirsty undead. As he continues his crusade against the undead, he discovers that the South is controlled by the vampires, led by a man named Adam (Rufus Sewell), who use slaves as their main food source. After Lincoln becomes President, he discovers that the vampires are plotting to take over the country, and he must again take up his axe to destroy the monsters.
While I doubt that any of them will consider this the finest moment of their careers, I thought the cast did solid work across the board, and there were no performances where it seemed like the actors were phoning it in. The central performance that holds the film together is Benjamin Walker as Abraham Lincoln. Walker – whose previous credits include Kinsey (2004), Flags of Our Fathers (2006), and The War Boys (2009) – commits himself completely to his role, handling himself well in the action scenes while also embodying the authority of our 16th President, particularly in the later part of the film when some excellent old-age makeup is used to make him look like our classic image of Lincoln during the Civil War years. Dominic Cooper – best known as Howard Stark in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) – is quirky and fun as Henry Sturges, although he does seem to have borrowed more than a handful of his mannerisms from Robert Downey Jr.’s take on Sherlock Holmes. Anthony Mackie is a good fit for the part of William Johnson, Lincoln’s friend and valet, but unfortunately he isn’t given much to do. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is cute and charming as the young Mary Todd Lincoln, and she has good chemistry with Walker, although her old-age makeup in the later parts of the film is unfortunately much worse than his. Sewell – who played the villain in A Knight’s Tale (2001) and Kate Winslet’s jerk ex-boyfriend in The Holiday (2006) – pulls off the appropriate combination of suave and menacing as Adam, the main villain vampire. His Southern accent is pitch-perfect, and I could totally see someone not realizing he’s actually English. Marton Csokas gleefully hams it up as Jack Barts, the vampire who killed Lincoln’s mother and serves as one of the other significant villains. Jimmi Simpson as Lincoln’s friend and assistant Joshua Speed, who I found quite funny and who had more of a role to play than I was expecting. And I have to say I was surprised that Alan Tudyk, who plays Illinois politician Stephen A. Douglas, was not listed in the film’s end credits; Tudyk is a good actor who deserves more mainstream recognition.
I should take a moment to talk about the tone of the film. Despite what many would assume from the title, this film is definitely not a comedy, although it does have some moments of humor. Make no mistake, this movie is playing things serious and straight-faced. And while I liked this approach, I can totally see why some people wouldn’t. In terms of style, if I had to compare it to any other film, it would probably be Christophe Gans’ Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001), although that film is much better than Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter – the two do have a similar mix of action and horror against a backdrop of pseudo-historical fiction.
The action in the film isn’t groundbreaking or unlike anything we’ve seen before, but it is still quite cool. Lincoln wields his signature weapon, an axe whose blade has been coated with molten silver, with balletic movements and to deadly effect. The two standout action sequences are definitely a chase between Lincoln and Jack Barts in the middle of a stampede of horses near the middle of the film and the climactic battle inside and outside a steam train speeding toward Gettysburg. I also want to praise the filmmakers for some fairly inventive kills, particularly one involving a forge bellows that is both rather awesome and darkly funny. And importantly, all the action is excellently lit and photographed by cinematographer Caleb Deschanel.
Benjamin Walker in “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.” Photo by Alan Markfield – © 2012 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.
The film was shot with 3D in mind, and the technique was well-used, though I’m sure the experience of seeing the film will be just as good without it. The 3D is mostly used to create a greater sense of depth, but unfortunately there are some cheesy things-coming-out-of-the screen moments, most notably a slave master’s whip in one scene. One interesting use of the 3D that I noticed was an effect applied to the eyes of the vampires in some moments, to make the eyes look eerie and sunken. That description probably makes it sound incredibly cheesy, but I actually found it a bit unnerving.
But as much as I enjoyed the film, it definitely has some notable flaws. As I mentioned, the movie’s straight-faced approach is something you either can or cannot get behind, and your opinion of this approach will greatly affect your opinion of the film. Also, some of the visual effects didn’t look up to snuff. The worst offender were some shots of the CGI horses in the big stampede/chase. Some of the horse shots looked great, but some of them gave me flashbacks to the carriage scene in Van Helsing (2004). Similarly, some shots of the vampires in their more monstrous forms are very obviously CGI, but they are usually only a momentary distraction. And while I liked the action scenes and fights, I thought they did suffer a bit from an overuse of Hong Kong-style wire-work; while some of that can help convey the sense of the vampires being superhuman, too much of it just ends up looking silly.
To be perfectly clear, this is not a great film. It will most likely not be remembered in later years, expect as a curiosity and piece of trivia. The best it can probably hope for is to become a cult classic. But I found it to be a lot of fun, and I had a good time watching it. If you’re looking for some bloody, R-rated action at the movies this summer, you should check out Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.
Timothy Monforton
