Abe Lincoln Vampire Hunter Bites, In a Good Way.

Movie review by Kenneith Alexander Wright Vazquez

Lawyer, husband, father, President and slayer of the undead. ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER is a kinetic, jarring and dynamically fast paced journey through a fictional unseen chapter in the life of "Honest Abe".

Director Timur Bekmambetov (Nightwatch, Daywatch, Wanted) brings his usual volatile and hyper visual style to everything. From hacking a tree to blistering pieces on one stroke, a wild and nearly cartoony chase through a stampede of wild horses to a fast and blurry smackdown with a vampire horde on top of a speeding locomotive. Timur just knows how to make any set piece beautiful and impossibly plausible. Even the vampires looked like ancient beastial and crone like monsters.

The photography is gorgeous, framing every scene with soft and period like accuracy. It cannot be said that this gory rump through fantastical history is not good to look at. Muted colors indoors, overtly exposed exteriors in flashbacks and a colorfully bloody animated sequence exploring the past as seen by a vampire are but a few of the attractive highlights.

A solid cast of character actors bring the state of the union to timeless life with Broadway stage veteran Benjamin Walker (Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson) as Abraham Lincoln, Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim VS The World, The Thing) as Lincoln's wife Mary Todd, Dominic Cooper (The Devil's Double, Captain America: The First Avenger) as vampire and ally Henry Sturgess, Rufus Sewell (A Knight's Tale, Dark City) as evil vampire lord Adam and Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker, The Adjustment Bureau) as Abe's friend Will Johnson and Jimmi Simpson (Zodiac, Date Night) as Joshua Speed.

Those not familiar with Timur Bekmambetov's films, other than Wanted and his Russian adventure Nightwatch, may feel a bit overwhelmed or even slightly confused at the way he cuts between scenes. At times it felt as though a few seconds of story went missing due to the transition.

This brings me to the film's only weakness, which will be noticeable to anyone that has ever read the book is based on, and that's omissions in the plot or unfaithful depictions from the source. Now don't blame either Timur or producer Tim Burton for this but the screen writer, who also happens to be the book's author, Seth Grahame-Smith.

While the film retains some relevant and poignant story beats, there were a few others, specially historic ones which were needlessly left out. An ambush at a mansion was retooled and re-envisioned with a different outcome and Lincoln's assassination, which is a vital aspect of the book' fiction, as well as It's history defying ending were ignored. I believe this book should have been adapted into a two part movie or even a trilogy.

Despite the departures from It's prose foundations ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER is a hell of an adventure. And weather you're a vamp or a patriot this fictional take on one of the US greatest leaders has its charms as well as bite.