Shocked, stunned, gobsmacked.
I am not ashamed to admit that I liked this film, although I was thoroughly expecting to hate it. After watching the trailer I was expecting very little of Timur Bekmanbetov's adaption of Seth Grahame-Smith's hit 2010 novel. Instead of finding it hilariously awful, I have to say bravo Mr Bekmanbetov. 'Abrham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter' is a very solid fantasy action film, of which I found enjoyable to watch and surprisingly engaging.
Picture this: 'Honest Abe', the 16th President of the United States, the vampire hunter. Chopping the heads off of slaveholding vampires in his spare time whilst still pursuing his political career. It should not work, but it does.
The film begins with a young Lincoln (played by the relatively unknown Benjamin Walker) witnessing the death of his mother. She did not die by drinking dodgy milk. Oh no. She was killed by a vampire. From then on Abe was determined to avenge his mothers death. Advised by friendly vampire Henry Sturgess (Dominic Cooper), Abe sets out on his one man slaying mission of ridding the south from the vampire threat. Sturgess is unable to help in the slaying because only the living can kill the dead, apparently. What, did Twilight not teach you that? Oh right, I'll carry on. Anyway, knowing the threat was too big for one man to handle on his own, Abe decided to tackle the vampire problem through different means: politics. It turns out the Civil War did not just see the end of slavery in the United States, but also the end of the vampire. In the middle of all this he marries Mary Todd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), has a son, loses his son, and has an epic battle with a bunch of vampires on top of a speeding train. It was a quiet old life for Abe.
If you put aside the vampire aspect of the film for a moment, a point that needs to be made is about the historical accuracy of it. Production Designer Francois Audousy told Total Film in a recent interview that it was very important to them that it was as historical accurate as possible. To their credit, they did well. Lincoln's back story ("I used to be a rail splitter"), his political battles with Stephen Douglas, his relationship with William Johnson, slavery and the Civil War were covered well in the film. My only gripe, from an historical point of view, is how they portrayed Lincoln's position on slavery. A little picky maybe, but in reality Lincoln was actually a proponent of colonisation in his earlier political days. Just to add a little more historical knowledge to this review...
All in all, I was impressed. If you fancy watching an action film with a bit of a different flavour to it, this film is worth checking out. The action sequences are not over-played, which I liked, and it is shot very well. The train scene mentioned earlier happens at the end of the film and is definitely the pick of the action scenes. The ending, if not a little cheesy, made me laugh. Whilst looking for his famous black hat, you hear Mary Todd shout from the waiting horse and carriage "We're going to be late to the theatre!" Bekmanbetov leaves it with the possibility of a sequel, finishing with Surgess in a modern day bar beginning a conversation, the same way he had done with Lincoln, to an unseen man with a gun. 'George Bush: Vampire Hunter' anyone?
6.5/10.
