Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Release: 22 June 2012
Starring: Benjamin Walker, Rufus Sewell and Dominic Cooper
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Horror, Altered History
Length: 105 min.
Rating: R
Tagline:
Are you a patriot or a vampire?
Basic Premise:
A young Abraham Lincoln takes on the mission of killing the undead vampire menace after his mother becomes their victim. But the vampire threat is about more than his vengeance. The future of the entire nation hangs in the balance and he must step up to the highest office in order to keep them from winning.
Review:
From the moment I saw the preview, I wanted to see this movie. I had seen the book in stores (didn’t read it) and thought that it was an interesting premise along with the other altered history books and altered classics coming out at the time.
My husband and I enjoyed the movie. We didn’t go in expecting much to begin with. I do have to note that fact. But we did enjoy what we got.
The story takes some suspension of disbelief. Abraham’s fighting skills aren’t something you would have seen in the West at that time. Maybe if his mentor had been Asian, that would have made more sense. BUT the action sequences were SWEET. All that axe swinging was beautiful to see. The director utilized slow motion to put emphasis on certain points of the fight. Very reminiscent of V for Vendetta and 300.
The way the history was altered to include the vampires wasn’t heavy-handed. A Civil War era enthusiast who also loves paranormal would probably enjoy the movie and not find much to complain about so far as the history is concerned.
This movie is NOT wall to wall action like the preview would have you believe. (Sidenote – I wish preview makers would stop trying to sell a movie on points it doesn’t have. That’s why movies get bad reviews.) You are following the life of Abraham Lincoln and watching him rise to power as the president of the United States all while fighting vampires.
Is it cheesy? Yes. You can tell that from the title. But if you go in expecting a cheesy vampire movie, then you’ll enjoy it that much more. My only issue with this movie was the rating. Beyond a single f-bomb, I couldn’t see where it earned the R-rating. The majority of the blood shown is black. And I saw more violence in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I think the movie did itself a disservice by not being PG-13. At least then parents could trick their kids into a history lesson without them realizing it.
That said… Parents, the violence is on par with and maybe even less than X-Men Origins: Wolverine or any of the Marvel PG-13 movies. There are two (three if you squint) brief sexual situations and one f-bomb. If your kids are into vampire movies, you shouldn’t have any issue letting them see this one.