Directed by Timur Bekmambetov and starring Benjamin Walker and Dominic Cooper, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire hunter follows the story of the 16th president of the United States as he tries to eliminate the threat of vampires from the USA.
No matter what your age, gender, interests e.t.c. One thing that we can all agree on is that Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, is such an absurd, hilarious and brilliant concept for a book and subsequently a film. This will coincidentally 'pave the way' for hundreds of historical inaccuracies and misrepresentations. So if your searching for an accurate depiction of the 16th president of the USA, your won't find it in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (However you may find it in 'Lincoln' which is released later this year). Instead you will find a film which quite simply does not understand it's source material.
For a film which follows the life of one of the most iconic American presidents of all time as he hunts vampires, it takes itself way too seriously. Conveying horror mediums through a flimsy plot that was completely nonsensical due to poor characters and the films many contradictions. Usually I let the occasional contradiction within a film slide, but this one had so many, it was simply inexcusable. One of the most important 'rules' within the film is broken, however as the audience was baffled at this occurrence, the film simply ran on, leaving one thing after another completely unexplained. The main villain in this film produces no real threat, he's predictable and tame, but the least you can expect from him is a satisfying gory departure, right? Wrong. This film produces possibly the biggest anti-climax in any film I've seen to date, and it feels totally out of place. Within a film where crazy action scenes are dragged out and focused on in depth, it was really odd to see no 'final battle'.
What with the film's '15' certificate, and possibly misleading title, the question of target demographic is also a prominent problem within this film. With vampires, gore and action attracting teens, while the prospect of an American President on screen could attract adults. However as the film attempts to balance both demographics the film just tumbles, producing a sloppy mess of disjointed action with simply uneventful and absurd political information. I appreciate that Bekmambetov at least attempted to create a fun yet slightly accurate film, but with a title such as 'Abraham Lincoln:Vampire Hunter' absurdity is a necessity!
On the other hand, if your simply looking for a piece of harmless fun, I think that this film would suffice. Yes the story's poor, yes the characters are atrocious, but the action is as ridiculous as it should be, with huge amounts of gore and satisfying (if not, totally overused) special effects. The most preposterous action scene materializing out of nowhere, involves the use of thousands of CGI horses, sound stupid? It is, but it's also undeniably thrilling. Another unintentional positive about this film, is that some scenes and lines in this film are just so atrocious it's laughable!
Overall however this film isn't as fun as you'd expect and is actually rather boring throughout. Providing a totally incoherent story-line with a poor script to match, as well as hundreds of indefensible mistakes.
40%- If your looking for harmless fun this might be for you, just don't expect a good story, script, or set of characters to follow.
Calum Russell
No matter what your age, gender, interests e.t.c. One thing that we can all agree on is that Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, is such an absurd, hilarious and brilliant concept for a book and subsequently a film. This will coincidentally 'pave the way' for hundreds of historical inaccuracies and misrepresentations. So if your searching for an accurate depiction of the 16th president of the USA, your won't find it in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (However you may find it in 'Lincoln' which is released later this year). Instead you will find a film which quite simply does not understand it's source material.
For a film which follows the life of one of the most iconic American presidents of all time as he hunts vampires, it takes itself way too seriously. Conveying horror mediums through a flimsy plot that was completely nonsensical due to poor characters and the films many contradictions. Usually I let the occasional contradiction within a film slide, but this one had so many, it was simply inexcusable. One of the most important 'rules' within the film is broken, however as the audience was baffled at this occurrence, the film simply ran on, leaving one thing after another completely unexplained. The main villain in this film produces no real threat, he's predictable and tame, but the least you can expect from him is a satisfying gory departure, right? Wrong. This film produces possibly the biggest anti-climax in any film I've seen to date, and it feels totally out of place. Within a film where crazy action scenes are dragged out and focused on in depth, it was really odd to see no 'final battle'.
What with the film's '15' certificate, and possibly misleading title, the question of target demographic is also a prominent problem within this film. With vampires, gore and action attracting teens, while the prospect of an American President on screen could attract adults. However as the film attempts to balance both demographics the film just tumbles, producing a sloppy mess of disjointed action with simply uneventful and absurd political information. I appreciate that Bekmambetov at least attempted to create a fun yet slightly accurate film, but with a title such as 'Abraham Lincoln:Vampire Hunter' absurdity is a necessity!
On the other hand, if your simply looking for a piece of harmless fun, I think that this film would suffice. Yes the story's poor, yes the characters are atrocious, but the action is as ridiculous as it should be, with huge amounts of gore and satisfying (if not, totally overused) special effects. The most preposterous action scene materializing out of nowhere, involves the use of thousands of CGI horses, sound stupid? It is, but it's also undeniably thrilling. Another unintentional positive about this film, is that some scenes and lines in this film are just so atrocious it's laughable!
Overall however this film isn't as fun as you'd expect and is actually rather boring throughout. Providing a totally incoherent story-line with a poor script to match, as well as hundreds of indefensible mistakes.
40%- If your looking for harmless fun this might be for you, just don't expect a good story, script, or set of characters to follow.
Calum Russell
