Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Directed by Timur Bekmambetov who has features such as Wanted under his chair, and produced by the likes of Tim Burton, so the chemistry is impressive. Written by Seth Grahame-Smith based on his own novel of the same name proves he is a newbie to screenwriting. The film was distributed by Fox studios and although the studio faces gross problems the movie managed to make $108m off $69m also being shot in 3-D.

  Also owing to its financial success is that the novel was a bestseller. Starring Benjamin Walker in the titular role, the film follows Abraham Lincoln from early life to presidency with vampire throat-slashing in between. The main source of motivation being that his mother was killed by one.

  The plot is original featuring a new theme to real-life presidency. Indeed newer films could be based on the same theme: Barack Obama - Oil Hunter for instance. The originality lacks in how the film times most of its scenes. It seems very unfocused and that the novel's length was not properly adjusted for the 105 minutes. The dialogues are average and timings of certain events are not so well timed. It also never reveals the power behind Lincoln's strength in detail. The first half is a bit boring although it gets quite interesting in the latter stage. The action scenes are over-done and too unrealistic. And it's not even scary. Vampires are averagely depicted.

  The pros are the acting. Walker played Lincoln well especially when he gets into the full person hats, beard and all. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who starred in The Thing remake, plays the wife decently showing that she can actually act. But the best performance was by Dominic Cooper (The Devil's Double) who is a brilliant thespian and hope the best is to come for him. Although the flick seems predictable at start-up it becomes unpredictable afterwards. The ending was also awesome given the OK beginning. Though I still question Lincoln handling an ax so skillfully.

  In conclusion, Abraham Lincoln is a completely passable neither good nor bad. It has no replay value. Also, pieces of Lincoln's life, adding to the war, were not peacefully put together. 3-D was a proper addition.

BO101: 2/4.

Rotten Tomatoes: 35%.

IMDB: 6.1/10.