Tasteless and eye-popping, I felt that watching 'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter' is an expenditure worth the money...at least. However, every time the thought Timbur Bekmambetov (the guy behind the visually delish Angelina Jolie movie, 'Wanted') and Tim Burton ('Dark Shadows') are both involved in this, I couldn't help but feel a very impacting sting of disappoint. I thought the movie was too serious of itself that the narrative was entirely put to trash despite of having its amusingly silly premise. It wasn't aware of itself that the subject matter was above-watchable enough and thus the movie headed to a catastrophic destination: working too hard, weakening itself...and eventually dying. Unlike the immortals who appeared in this movie and confront "eternity", literally.
A thrilling and stunning eye-candy with a lousy narrative, 'Abe Lincoln' looks more than the kind of movie that keeps you watching just because of its eye-sparkling hyperstaged production. Nothing more.
Vampires. There is nothing Abraham Lincoln (a sometimes awkward sometimes magnificent Benjamin Walker) wants to kill more than vampires. After his mother died because of a vampire entrep Barts (Marton Csokas), he has vowed for retribution. He vows to send the bloodsuckers in a bath of their own blood and dead flesh. That was until he met Henry Sturges (Dominic Cooper) in a bar, a vampire hunter whom he convinced to teach him the slaying business. He tells Abe that slaying solely for Barts' head will not benefit him entirely, so slaying one head after another is clearly the way to go.
Soon after, Abraham starts to work for a middle-class store by day and obviously a vamp hunter by when the night breaks. There he meets the sometimes obnoxious store owner and boss Josh Speed (Jimmi Simpson) and Abe's future wife Mary Todd (played by my fave chic Mary Elizabeth Winstead, 'Death Proof', 'The Thing' and 'Final Destination 3'). As he retires from the vampire slaying to become the United States of America's 16th president, the threat of the vamp attacks suddenly increase in noise. And Abe Lincoln will need to take his silver-ized axe by hand once more and swing up to the air and chop some vampire's head off...this time, for America.
Filled with likable performers like Mary Elizabeth Winstead who plays the hearty wife to Abraham Lincoln. Abe is very good himself too, played by Benjamin Walker. He is a good actor I admit but sometimes he is too wooden to be taken too seriously, let alone the disastrous third act being wrinkled and bearded Lincoln when he becomes president. The vampires were effectively startling, led by Rufus Sewell; there were scenes that having their presence on screen were startling enough. Lastly, protagonists like Will (Anthony Mackie) and Henry are both charming to instantly trust.
Timbur Bekmambetov knows how to mix action with effects-heavy eye-popper visuals and make it feel all in one piece. Spectacular and dark, the movie may offer some shocks, 'Vampire Hunter' appears more action and less horror.
The only yet inflicting complacent thing about the movie is the narrative. In this movie reality, vampires cannot burn under sunlight nor they can be invisible in photographed. This harmed the movie even more, with the introduction of the classic "you can't see their reflections" convention and the "vampires can't kill their own kinds" thing. The outcome of the movie was dumbfounding enough, leaving you in a state of head-scratching hour when you'd be like "oh, um, err, huh?".
Nonetheless, the movie astounds with its many offerings that are sadly limited to visuals and action sequences topped by the final confrontation train scene.
A thrilling and stunning eye-candy with a lousy narrative, 'Abe Lincoln' looks more than the kind of movie that keeps you watching just because of its eye-sparkling hyperstaged production. Nothing more.
Vampires. There is nothing Abraham Lincoln (a sometimes awkward sometimes magnificent Benjamin Walker) wants to kill more than vampires. After his mother died because of a vampire entrep Barts (Marton Csokas), he has vowed for retribution. He vows to send the bloodsuckers in a bath of their own blood and dead flesh. That was until he met Henry Sturges (Dominic Cooper) in a bar, a vampire hunter whom he convinced to teach him the slaying business. He tells Abe that slaying solely for Barts' head will not benefit him entirely, so slaying one head after another is clearly the way to go.
Soon after, Abraham starts to work for a middle-class store by day and obviously a vamp hunter by when the night breaks. There he meets the sometimes obnoxious store owner and boss Josh Speed (Jimmi Simpson) and Abe's future wife Mary Todd (played by my fave chic Mary Elizabeth Winstead, 'Death Proof', 'The Thing' and 'Final Destination 3'). As he retires from the vampire slaying to become the United States of America's 16th president, the threat of the vamp attacks suddenly increase in noise. And Abe Lincoln will need to take his silver-ized axe by hand once more and swing up to the air and chop some vampire's head off...this time, for America.
Filled with likable performers like Mary Elizabeth Winstead who plays the hearty wife to Abraham Lincoln. Abe is very good himself too, played by Benjamin Walker. He is a good actor I admit but sometimes he is too wooden to be taken too seriously, let alone the disastrous third act being wrinkled and bearded Lincoln when he becomes president. The vampires were effectively startling, led by Rufus Sewell; there were scenes that having their presence on screen were startling enough. Lastly, protagonists like Will (Anthony Mackie) and Henry are both charming to instantly trust.
Timbur Bekmambetov knows how to mix action with effects-heavy eye-popper visuals and make it feel all in one piece. Spectacular and dark, the movie may offer some shocks, 'Vampire Hunter' appears more action and less horror.
The only yet inflicting complacent thing about the movie is the narrative. In this movie reality, vampires cannot burn under sunlight nor they can be invisible in photographed. This harmed the movie even more, with the introduction of the classic "you can't see their reflections" convention and the "vampires can't kill their own kinds" thing. The outcome of the movie was dumbfounding enough, leaving you in a state of head-scratching hour when you'd be like "oh, um, err, huh?".
Nonetheless, the movie astounds with its many offerings that are sadly limited to visuals and action sequences topped by the final confrontation train scene.
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