Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter- The Untold Epic Story of America's Favorite President

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter sounded like a joke from the very first moment I heard of it. Then I saw the trailers, and I thought no differently. Sure it looked epic and action-packed, but I doubted the plot would provide much or that the actors could pull off such a premise. I wasn't far off. While Benjamin Walker (Flags of Our Fathers) is the perfect Abraham Lincoln, you couldn’t ask for a better vamp villain than Rufus Sewell (Legend of Zorro), and Dominic Cooper (The Duchess) makes for an attractive and welcome addition as Abe’s side-kick, the movie lacks the script or the background necessary to bring the characters to life.

It begins with scenes from Abe’s early childhood. Young Abraham sticking up for an African American boy named Will, about to be beaten presumably by a slave owner, while his father defends them both and openly encourages slave’s freedom. This tells a bit about his upbringing in the family's modest one-roomed cabin home. That night, Abe has his first encounter with a vampire, one that takes revenge on Abe by biting his mother and killing her. This leads to a whole plethora of issues, first and foremost to the one that consumes the early part of Abraham’s life; hunting down said vampire and slaying it for revenge.

However, there are obvious obstacles standing in his way before he can achieve his goal. Like many movies focused on the main character's revenge there is the sequence of preparing physically and mentally for that exact moment. This usually involves meeting the characters that support the protagonist along the way. That’s where Henry (Cooper) comes in, saving him from a failed attempt to kill the evil vampire far too early. Henry is inexplicably willing to teach Abraham everything he knows about slaying vampires in return for his obedience. Thus leading to Abe becoming an expert with an axe while learning a pretty sweet twirling trick as well.

After he is deemed ready, Abraham is released into the real world of the late 1800's to start the hunt, beginning with vamps of lesser importance, with a reminder that he is to give up hope for friends or family. Meanwhile, Henry is still in control, sending Abe letters hinting at who the local vampires are in town, but never the name Abe waits for. Along the way he becomes a shopkeeper’s assistant where he more importantly meets Mary Todd, the only woman of his life. This leads to more complications, as this puts her in danger being a major weakness of his.

Also, like aforementioned movies, the evil antagonist is not the end all, there are other problems that arise as well. Such as getting mixed up with the most dangerous and powerful of vampires, Adam (Sewell) and his sister Vadoma. They rule the South with the hope that they will eventually gain freedom for their “nation” of people. They hold power enough to hunt down Abraham's old friend, Will, who reunites with him after all this time and the shifty shopkeeper, Joshua Speed. His two closest side-kicks. With all this excitement, it’s hard to believe that the plot unfortunately lacks unpredictability. Everything was expected from beginning to end. While the director, Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted), did add in a few twists, they did not make much of an impact on the outcome.

Benjamin Walker excels as the modest, plain-faced Abraham who does what he knows is right every time. He rescues those he cares about and stays true to his morals when he could easily turn his back to them. Even as the fifty-year old president of the United States, he still surprises with his convincing speeches and his fancy attacks on vampires. The resemblance between him and the real president is striking. Rufus Sewell does wonderfully as a deliciously evil vampire providing troops for the Confederates in the Civil War. It's no wonder, he positively shines playing evil roles. No surprise there. And Dominic Cooper, well, he provides the eye candy.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter did not shy away from the old as time notion that vampires are ugly beasts and for that it should be respected. Where many recent movies and stories have depicted vampires as beautiful, seductive creatures, here, they are absolutely terrifying and hideous. The only similarity is that they both possess super strength and speed. Another deviation, the movie does not stick to the wooden stake through the heart theory, which is odd because if that's the case, what makes vampires harder to kill than any human? The director instead substituted the use of pure silver weapons as the solution.

Many reviews have criticized this movie, mainly because it is not historically accurate or the sequences of events is wrong. However, it was easy to ignore those minor details and focus on all the good that Abraham Lincoln the person did and attempted to do for the freedom of the people. It was a bit inspiring to watch even after hearing about it countless times in history class. What it lacked in script and plot, it made up in special slow-mo action sequences that were countless and plenty. With sweet twists and turns and complicated action stunts by the characters. The special effects were also dazzling although easily identifiable as CGI. Particularly two long scenes with a herd of horses and a train; which were especially stunning shown in 3D.

While the movie may not be for everyone, there are definitely many elements to please those who wanted to sit down and watch a simple take, on an epic story where Abraham Lincoln ends up being more of a bad ass then anyone ever imagined.

3 out of 5 gold stars