Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012)
Not being overly familiar with the source material, one of the questions I had going into Buffy Lincoln, as I prefer to call it, was why Lincoln? What about Lincoln would figure in beside just the silly idea of a famous historical figure also killing vampires. Aside from being believable swinging an axe, I was pleasantly surprised at how the author and screenwriter was able to tie together vampires as a monster with slaveholders. Moreso than White Dog (review forthcoming), I felt this film gave me things to consider about the way even the slaveholders were slaves to their racist tradition much as the vampires are slaves to their monstrous curse, and when the Union goes to war, in part to end slavery as an institution, the vampires, like the slaveholders, see it as a direct threat to their way of life, immoral as it may be.
But if there are enough hints of intellectual intrigue to engage, I shouldn't cover up for the fact that this is a pretty silly film that makes it's first priority to entertain. Timur Bekmambetov brings his penchant for hyper-stylized action to the front. There's a strong artificial sheen to much of the film that I imagine will be tough for some, this isn't the type of computer graphics that look real (there's a certain scene with horses that is truly fake looking) but once you get comfortable that the film is making no effort at realism, it kind of works. The heavy use of slow motion is also likely to pet some peeves but again, Bekmambetov has enough skill in crafting action that it has an elegance to it. And while some may groan at Tim Burton's involvement here, the gothic look about much of this being straight from his style category, it kind of made me think it is the kind of film Burton should be making.
The cast is the final component that largely makes the film work. Relative newcomer Benjamin Walker takes on the title role beside Mary Elizabeth Winstead playing Mary Todd. They are the relative weak points, not helped by some pretty poor makeup that ages them up for a significant chunk in the second half. But Anthony Mackie as Abe's childhood friend, Dominic Cooper as his mentor in the ways of vampire hunting, and Rufus Sewell as Adam, the original vampire all bring quality to their parts. Jimmi Simpson in the other main supporting role works well within a script that does great things to establish his character to set up certain things late in the film. I'm not usually one to notice finesse details, but this film had a lot of small things that really stood out in hindsight showing the great care that went into the design. I'm not promising the world with this film, but even with the flaws it does have, it is far better than it has any business being, and in a year when a number of the big blockbusters have already disappointed me (The Avengers, Prometheus), this stands out as superior as an end result.
4/5