Movie Review: Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter

Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter is actually quite a fun movie.  While it does have its parts that it kind of drags, overall it's worth the price you're paying in admission. 

In any case, the story goes like this, and I'll try and avoid any major spoilers.  Lincoln, from an early age, discovered the presence of vampires in the world after he saw his mother be attacked by a vampire his father worked for, and saw her subsequently die from the attack.  When he matured, Lincoln attempted to take revenge, only to have it fail miserably.  He would subsequently be rescued and trained by Henry Sturgess, who teaches Lincoln the ways of the vampire hunter while also imparting on him an important code from which to operate.  Lincoln is sent off into the world, where he later meets his wife, Mary Todd, and subsequently catches the attention of the cabal of southern vampires that secretly holds power in the south.  Lincoln subsequently attempts to find his own way of dealing with the menace, but soon discovers that he cannot completely separate himself from not just Sturgess' methods, but also from the direct action of the vampires themselves.

The movie itself differs in the book in many ways.  Several events are changed in the book, and certain characters are omitted altogether.  The role of Edgar Allen Poe, and even some of Sturgess' functions are delegated to Joshua Speed and William Johnston, two of Lincoln's actual friends and aides.  Both actors are superbly played, although Jimmi Simpson's (Johnston) performance is the better of the two. Mary Todd Lincoln's role is also subsequently raised, and even the ending is altered.  While this may anger some fans of the book, it does make the movie its own unique entity that really must be enjoyed on its own, rather than as a direct companion to the book.  The acting is top notch, as Benjamin Walker does a fantastic role as Lincoln.  While he does phyiscally resemble Lincoln to a certain extent, more so when he has the full beard, Walker makes the role his own.   Rather than simply try and portray the 16th president as the historical caricature that has developed around him, but instead gives Lincoln that solemn feel that surrounded him in his later days, while also showing Lincoln the man, in as much as the story could allow it.   Mary Elizabeth Wanstead also does well as Mary Todd Lincoln, able to portray her with a dose of girlish charm, but also able to channel the same sort of determined constitution that the actual Mary Todd did in terms of supporting her husband.  But the true show stopper here is Henry Sturgess, played by Dominic Cooper, who is able to play the master vampire hunter with a great deal of charm, danger, and a certain sense of wisdom and weariness that comes with the role.

The story is fairly self contained, and one doesn't need to have read the book or have any other background knowledge to understand the book.  There are a few basic vampire laws that are broken throughout the book, although these are typically explained or given a brief mention and then dismissed.  Either way, it's not important, really.  When are vampire movies supposed to be based in reality.  There are a lot of great action sequences and special effects, and the soundtrack is very good, though not memorable in the way others are (such as Hans Zimmer's Last Samurai soundtrack, which remains one of the best soundtracks ever written, in my own opinion.)

There are some weak moments.  The movie did have a tendency to drag at some parts, and the action sequences, while awesome, did have some instances which were a stretch of the imagination.  And there are moments of ludicrousness that do strike you when you realize, I'm watching Abe Lincoln kick some vampire ass, and I love it.  But that's a minor quibble at best.

All in all, I greatly enjoyed ABVH, and would recommend for people to see it.  It certainly does surpass some of the other horrible undead movies that have come onto the market over the past few years (I'm looking at you, Resident Evil).  So head out and enjoy it.  It's an axe splitting good time.