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| CULTURE & SOCIETY |
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FILM REVIEW |
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Historical blunder
Soumitra Roy
New Delhi
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Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Rating: 3/5 |
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ABRAHAM LINCOLN: Vampire Hunter is a striking title for a movie. Just as striking as the gamut of its elements — action, fiction, a little rewriting of history, romance, drama and Hollywood’s favourite monster, vampires. And yet, the movie remains just lifeless as its dead villains.
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is an adaptation of screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith’s book of the same name. The director, Timur Bekmambetov (of Wanted fame), does justice to the settings of America in the 1800s, but the movie altogether is tad silly. It starts of like a Batman film, where young Abraham’s mother is murdered by a vampire and he sets out to seek revenge.
As a teenager while attempting to kill his mother’s murderer, who happens to be a vampire, unknown to Abe, he comes across his mysterious and bold mentor Henry Sturgess (Dominic Cooper). Henry saves him and thereon begins his training as Abraham, the vampire slayer. Thereafter, Abraham heads off to Springfield to kill the vampires and study law. Benjamin Walker fits in well as Abraham Lincoln. Whether he is courting Mary Todd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) or delivering public speeches as the 16th American President, he lives up to the character.
But the movie does more justice to the dead than to the living. The vampires are shown in all their fierce and scary form — fangs out and blood all over. Rufus Sewell as Adam, the leader of the vampires gives Walker a tough competition in both the emotional as well as fight sequences. Costume designers Carlo Poggioli and Varvara Avdyushko, along with the make-up team, do a good job in dressing up the cast as per the 1800s.
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The movie does more justice to the dead than to the living — vampires with fangs out |
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Mid-way, when Abe becomes the President and gets involved in politics, the movie loses focus on the vampires. But the monsters regain the spotlight soon, and how! By becoming part of the Civil War! Yes, they want human slavery and fight against Abe in his quest for freedom to every man.
Cooper and Anthony Mackie as Will Johnson are good as the mentor and his sidekick respectively. Though a highly unbelievable and funny plot, the movie has some strong acting. The action sequences and the swinging of the silver-tipped axe add to drama.
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