Director: Timur Bekamambetov
Release Date: 2012
Running Time: 1hr 45 minutes
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 15
Synopsis:
The 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, discovers that vampires are planning to take over America. His mission? To destroy them.
If you were to say to someone, who was Abraham Lincoln? It's very unlikely the response you might get is that he is a vampire hunter! I think it's safe to say, that we can pretend, just for this movie that he was one! After watching his mother get killed by a vampire at age nine, Abraham grows up, making acquaintances with Henry Sturges who teaches him how to fight and what is required to kill a vampire. Abraham soon moves to Springfield, lawyer by day, vampire hunter by night. It's not long before he discovers that vampires are planning to take over the United States. He must do everything he can to put a stop to it. Based on the novel of the same name, Director Timur Bekamambetov brings us the fascinating film adaption.
The storyline is completely ludicrous, when they've got Abraham Lincoln as a vampire hunter, naturally the storyline is going to be ridiculous. I wouldn't however, necessarily say that is what is wrong with this film. I cannot however, warm to Benjamin Walker who plays Abraham Lincoln. He's not your typical leading man. The idea behind the storyline is actually very good, naturally when making a book into a film there are going to be a lot of changes, however If one was to go in search of a vampire movie, I'm not convinced this would be the one I'd turn to first. If you want my honest opinion? Tim Burton would have been perfect to direct this film. The storyline would work beautifully if it wasn't for the terrible acting.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays Mary Todd Lincoln, sadly her performance wasn't much better. Although she really looks the part, I couldn't relate or warm to her character. Winstead doesn't deliver an ounce of characterization, again considering how fantastic the storyline is, it's a real shame. The dialogue between characters is very deadpan and boring, Director Timur Bakamambetov has relied heavily on beautiful cinematography, it's a shame that his direction and the performances of the actors doesn't live up to the same standards. The storyline takes far too long to get going. Unfortunately the trailer showed all of the best bits. Benjamin Walker's characterization as Abraham Lincoln as his character progresses is actually very good, it's just a shame the pacing of the film took far too long to show it's audiences of his fantastic portrayal. At almost an hour into the movie, I was finding myself very bored with the characters.
Beautifully shot, the cinematography certainly isn't at fault. The lighting is excellent and adds to the storyline and the tone of the film perfectly. It really works and looks fantastic! The setting is magnificent, that too really works well with the storyline and the tone of the film, I love the attention to detail that went into it. Amazingly shot with really impressive camera shots, visually the film is not at fault at all. The costumes are excellent and are very suitable for the characters. As the film progresses Benjamin Walker really starts to look the part, his hair and make up is terrific. It's exactly how one would expect Abraham Lincoln to look. Excellent. Although the film is clearly organised very well, certain scenes sadly do drag the film down. The action sequences are very nice, although I was expecting to see a bit more of them. The storyline is very good, but I was expecting far more! By the time I started to enjoy the movie there was only 30 minutes left.
Perfect for those who are really into their vampires films! Sadly, one I will not be watching again!
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