MIDNIGHT MOVIE REVIEW: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Starring: Benjamin Walker, Dominic Cooper, Mary Elisabeth Winstead
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Genre: Action
Runtime: 105 minutes

What do you get when you cross the legendary POTUS Abraham Lincoln with vampires? The short version of the review is; the best vampire flick since Blade. For the longer version, you’d have to read on a bit more to find out why this is so. So let’s get crackin’.

In 2010 a book was released by the author Seth Grahame-Smith. It was his second, after Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. This book, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, became an instant hit, and a movie had to be produced off of it. Well, this is that movie, featuring some lesser known actors like Benjamin Walker in the title role. His mentor, Dominic Cooper, is slightly better known with roles such as Howard Stark in the Captain America film, and the lead in ‘The Devils Double’. Mary Elisabeth Winstead, you might recall, has played John McClane’s daughter, Lucy, and as a personal favorite, Ramona Flowers in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. The director, Bekmambetov, has only made one Hollywood feature film, Wanted, which is not the worst debut a director could wish for.

What is this movie all about? It’s about vengeance, for starters. Abe’s mom gets killed, and after waiting years for his revenge, he notices normal bullets don’t hurt his moms killer (spoiler: because he’s a vampire, duh). He gets saved by Henry (Dom Cooper) who teaches him everything he knows on how to kill vampires. They strike a deal, to eradicate the streets of the filthy vermin.

If you’re a fan of Twilight, don’t bother watching this film (in fact, get the fuck off this blog, you filthy peasant!). No sparkly vampires here. Instead, you get beautiful, slow-motion killshots, set to an intimidating good soundtrack with lots of blood. Of yes, blood will be spilled. I didn’t make the comparison with Blade for nothing, you know.

The portrayal of Abe Lincoln is nicely done, however, when he grows in age, so declines the believability of Benji Walker as Abe. The make-up artists have done a good job, but it’s unavoidable that he looks silly in some shots, from certain angles. Especially the beard. ESPECIALLY, the beard.

Where does this leave us? Welp, with a good vampire movie. The story isn’t brilliant, but the action makes up for most of it. The final battle is quite cliché, without spoiling anything, but overall it’s a good movie. Don’t get hung up on factual inaccuracies, it’s a goddamn vampire-movie. Go and see it, you rascals!

 

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