Perhaps what’s most astonishing about Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is its tone. This is one hell of a silly movie and yet the performances are entirely straight-faced and sincere to the point I didn’t find myself laughing at the movie, but actually more involved than I ever expected. It wasn’t as tongue-in-cheek as I expected and it does a decent job weaving real history in with screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith’s silliness, adapting the script from his novel of the same name. In short, it’s actually pretty good.
Beginning in 1818, we are introduced to a nine-year-old Abraham Lincoln whose mother treats him a valuable lesson in how to treat people when she protects Abe’s best friend, a young black boy, from being beaten with a whip. But it’s a lesson that comes with consequences. That night, Abe witnesses his mother bitten by a vampire. She would die the next day, thus igniting his hatred for the undead, a hatred that would only continue to grow until he was able to exact vengeance.
Years later Abe (Benjamin Walker) meets Henry Sturgess (Dominic Cooper), a man that will eventually coach him on how to destroy vampires, but only once he agrees to put aside his search for revenge. His mouth agrees, his conscience does not and training begins.
Initially offered his choice in firearms, Abe declares a preference for an ax, one he dips in silver and is soon wielding like a professional baton twirler. Unfortunately, to kill the vampires in this movie it’s going to take more than just some fancy ax-spinning to put them down as Abe soon learns once his training is over and he heads to Springfield, IL to blend in and begin his mission.
As soon as he sets foot in town, he befriends James Speed (Jimmi Simpson), a man that would later serve as Attorney General under Lincoln, but here he owns a small shop and offers Abe a job and a place to stay. Work by day, vampire hunting by night.
Here he also meets his future wife Mary Todd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and reunites with the young man from his past, Will Johnson (Anthony Mackie), now a freed slave in need of Abe’s help in maintaining his status as a free man.
To this point, things have seemed relatively simple for Abe, but Adam (Rufus Sewell), the leader of the vampire nation has caught wind of Abe’s exploits and devises his own plan, not necessarily to kill Abe, but to concoct a scheme that will help vampires take over the country.
To avoid spoiling too much, the story works its way through history to the point Lincoln takes office and into the Civil War where the vampires play a pivotal role.
Directed by Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted), the story isn’t short on absurd action sequences including a horseback battle between Abe and his one true nemesis and a massive railroad set piece that involves fire, explosions a collapsing bridge and CG blood splattered all over the screen. Ridiculous is the best word to describe it all, but again, it manages to maintain a level of silly meets serious that works in a way that keeps you enthralled and, for the most part, enjoying the ride.
The key to much of it is the performance of Benjamin Walker as Lincoln. Walker’s first ever feature film role was as a 19-year-old version of Liam Neeson in the 2004 film Kinsey and you’ll be hard-pressed not to see a lot of Neeson in Walker’s performance. The comparison is apt not only for their comparable looks and acting styles, but in their ability to turn ridiculous action pieces into legitimately entertaining films. Walker succeeds here in the way Neeson succeeded in The A-Team even though I feel I am in the minority in enjoying that movie, which was certainly far more camp than what you have here.
If I walked away with any wishes, one would have been to include a few more colorful characters, something to break up the tone and give it a jolt. Nothing so outlandish as a character meant solely for “comic relief” but outside of vampires taking the battlefield at Gettysburg all wearing sunglasses and Lincoln booting a severed head off a speeding train, the serious tone does tend to wear. I guess a moment of self-awareness would have been appreciated. Something to let the audience know that while the filmmakers have nailed the tone, an acknowledgment that what we’re watching is truly ridiculous.
Even Rufus Sewell fits right in as a level-headed undead politician of sorts without a hint of eccentricity, though he does get the film’s best line and, if you dig deep enough, is the film’s most fascinating character. Adam is the first of his kind, a vampire that’s been around forever. His name is not in the least bit ironic. Given his age, name and the fact he’s a vampire, I absolutely loved when he said, “Man has enslaved each other since they invented gods to forgive them for doing it.” All things considered, it adds a whole new layer to the fictional history this film weaves.
While not entirely a home run as I can only take so much CG blood before it becomes more of the same, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is worth the watch. I’m not sure it’s a film you absolutely need to see in theaters (and certainly not in 3-D), but I could think of plenty of other less agreeable ways to spend your time.
