Abraham Lincoln is already considered a superman amongst Presidents for his bold leadership through the most divisive period in this country's history. Obviously none of us recognized the full extent of his powers, which extends to wielding a silver soaked ax and dispatching legions of the undead with his Presidential kung-fu. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter boasts a premise that absolutely cries out for schlocky, campy fun of the guilty pleasure sort, and while it almost gets the tone just right, the mashing of horror and history turns out to be more of an interesting failure than a success.
Written by Seth Grahame-Smith, adapting his own crazy novel, the film takes place in 19th century America, still dealing with the injustices of slavery. Especially down south, which is apparently brimming with hordes of vampires lurking in the shadows, in positions of power and influence. We meet Lincoln at a young age, viewing the evils of slavery and deciding early on to do something about it. Before he ever gets that chance, his family runs afoul of a vampire named Jack Barts(Martin Csokas), who callously kills Lincoln's mother, and imprinting upon the boy a desire for vengeance against all bloodsuckers.
Now an adult, Lincoln(Benjamin Walker) still harbors the need to destroy Barts, but he's instead recruited by a mysterious, strangely dressed warrior named Henry Sturgess(Dominic Cooper) to take up the mantle of vampire hunter. To be trained in the art of death, Lincoln must give up his vengeful quest, and turn himself over completely to Sturgess, Mr. Miyagi-style. Now a bad ass killer, Lincoln takes up residence in Springfield, where he strikes up a bond with a shopkeeper(Jimmi Simpson), working a day job while hiding his bloody moonlighting. Lincoln also strikes up a longstanding, and deeply personal rivalry with future debate partner, Stephen Douglas(Alan Tudyk), over the heart of one Mary Todd(Mary Elizabeth Winstead). He also reconnects with his childhood friend and confidante, William Johnson(Anthony Mackie), who he shares the secret of his fight with.
But Lincoln is a little too good at this whole slaying thing, and it isn't long before he's caught the eye of Adam(Rufus Sewell), a 5,000 year old vampire with a plan for his kind to claim their rightful place in the world. That, of course, means humanity needs to take a back seat, and Adam is willing to use the country's turmoil over slavery to launch his evil schemes.
Sounds like fun, right? Certainly, it's a film that would seem to be perfect for a master of the absurd like Tim Burton, who serves as a producer. You'd almost expect to see someone like Bruce Campbell in a story this wild. Timur Bekmambetov would seem to be the right fit, as well. A director of flashy, all sizzle no substance flicks like Day Watch and Wanted, he's a director who throws every technical curveball he can into the mix. Subtlety isn't in his dictionary at all, and the film is overstuffed with slo-motion shots of Lincoln thrashing his fanged foes. It's cool for the first ten times you see it, but then the slo-mo effect starts to run dry, and Bekmambetov is forced to fall back on aged stunt choreography ripped from The Matrix. An extended battle that takes place on a speeding train is thrilling and well staged, but a bouncing chase through a herd of stampeding horses is just plain stupid. Just because you can do something, doesn't necessarily mean it's the best idea.
If the film had decided to just be an utterly ridiculous, comical trip through U.S. history, then there wouldn't be an issue. The same would go if it was flat out, stone-faced serious the entire time. The problem is that Grahame-Smith can't figure out how the tone should be, and that's a problem that has plagued him in every facet of his career so far. The author of both this film's novelization and the period mash-up, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Grahame-Smith is a writer who has fantastic ideas that scream out to be made into feature films. However, the actual execution leaves much to be desired. In this case, the film is neither funny enough, or historically true enough to work. It's almost as if he changed his mind on the story's scope midway through, as it looked for awhile as if we'd see the vampires playing a more subtle, yet more integral role in American history than they do. And then the decision was made to just dump them in the middle of a major battle and move on. Grahame-Smith, who also wrote the equally confused Dark Shadows for Tim Burton, relies on the premise being so outlandish that it's hard to take your eyes off the screen. Fortunately for him, he's right on that score.
As uneven as Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is, there's no way to get around how cool it is to see the 16th President in his top hat and breeches, cutting a swath through the cold-blooded creatures like the world's first superhero. While the supporting cast doesn't get much to do, in particular poor Anthony Mackie, they're all clearly having fun with the concept. Walker has Lincoln's stately demeanor down pat, which he maintains even when in the midst of a supernatural tussle. Not an easy feat. There are more hits than misses with the film, but those looking for something that's a little off the beaten path will definitely find what they're looking for.
