Historical fiction-based action thriller ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’ hit theaters June 22, 2012, battling against Disney and Pixar’s ‘Brave’ and Dreamworks’ ‘Madagascar 3.’ Unfortunately, it couldn’t hold its own against the kids’ movies; however, the box office numbers do not reflect the actual quality of the film. ‘Lincoln’ is a fantastic film with a surprisingly rich story and truly epic action sequences.

Spoiler alert!

‘Lincoln’ is based on the novel of the same name written by Seth Grahame-Smith, who also wrote the screenplay for the movie. The story begins with Lincoln as a child with two hardworking parents on a plantation. When Lincoln sees one of his friends, William Johnson, being hurt, he attacks the owner, Jack Barts (Marton Csokas), and his father intervenes. Lincoln’s father, Thomas (Joseph Mawle), quits and Barts demands that his debt be repaid immediately. Thomas refuses and Barts decides to settle the score another way. One night, he sneaks into their home and bites Thomas’ wife, Nancy (Robin McLeavy), which Lincoln witnesses. She dies the next morning, leaving Thomas and Lincoln heartbroken.

Thomas makes Lincoln vow to never seek revenge and he agrees, but after the father dies nine years later, Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) gears up to kill Barts. He gets drunk to work up the nerve for the kill and bumps into the mysterious Henry Sturgess (Dominic Cooper), who warns him not to be reckless but he does not listen. Lincoln confronts Barts at the docks only to learn he is a vampire, and is nearly killed until Henry intervenes.

Lincoln wakes up in Henry’s home the next day and learns the truth about how vampires came to America looking to rebuild their ranks and thrive. He still wants revenge for his mother’s death so he makes a deal with Henry to be taught how to kill vampires if he takes on the mission to exterminate all of them, instead of just Barts. He trains for a while and then heads to Springfield where he lands a job with Joshua Speed (Jimmi Simpson) and takes assignments to secretly kill vampires in the city.

During his time in Springfield, he meets Mary Todd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and the two fall for each other. However, Barts discovers their relationship and threatens to kill her, beckoning Lincoln to settle the score once and for all. Lincoln kills him but learns that he is only an enforcer working for Adam (Rufus Sewell), a powerful vampire ruling over New Orleans who wants to expand his influence throughout the entire country.

Not long afterwards, Lincoln finds out Henry is a vampire whom Adam created out of spite. Since vampires cannot kill one another, Henry has been making human protégées to hunt in his place, but Lincoln is angry when he finds out the truth and gives up hunting to marry Mary and become a politician. He later becomes President of the United States during the civil war, along with the help of his childhood friend William (Anthony Mackie), which escalates when Adam sends his vampire followers onto the battlefield to turn the tide for the South. Adam’s sister, Vadoma (Erin Wasson), murders Lincoln’s only son William, and he determines to end the war and the dispute once and for all.

Despite the tongue-in-cheek premise for the novel and film, ‘Lincoln’ is actually a fantastic experience due to the masterful casting. Benjamin Walker is exceptional as Lincoln, both as a young man and as his older, more well-known self. He brings an incredible sense of honor, strength, and determination to the role, while still being a genuinely good man who wants to save the people he loves and the nation he serves.

The other actors are also cast perfectly. The villains are vicious and unforgiving and Lincoln’s friends are self-sacrificing and loyal to the end. This is also due to the fact that the script is relatively clear of clichés and provides enough time to develop the characters and give them distinct roles alongside Lincoln.

The plot flows well and never drags in any particular spot. It is especially engrossing because of the story’s historical fiction setting. Most of Lincoln’s important moments in history remain unchanged, even with the inclusion of the vampires threatening America, and it is interesting to see how he changes from a hardened young man to a responsible leader of the Union. This is the main appeal for the novel as well, which is part of the mashup genre where authors take a pre-existing text and combine it with a supernatural element. Other popular works similar to this one are ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’ and ‘Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters.’

The only significant flaw in ‘Lincoln’ is the rather noticeable CGI, which can get distracting in scenes where it takes up most of the environment. The vampires themselves look excellent and terrifying, but the CGI for backgrounds is mediocre at best. The worst offenders are the horse stampede and the end sequence of the fiery train tracks. It is quite easy to tell that they are standing in a green screen and thus some of the action feels less intense due to the substandard visuals.

Still, ‘Lincoln’ is an exciting foray into the mashup genre and should not be missed.

Grade: 4.5/5

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When the movie adaptation of ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’ hits cinemas this summer, movie-goers will soon realize that there are few secrets between Abraham, played by Benjamin Walker, and his über-nemesis Adam, the chief of all vampires. The first of his kind in existence, Adam, played by Rufus Sewell, is a creature of almost limitless power. Author-screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith, who created the character especially for the film, as its central villain, was attracted to the idea of someone who has existed for untold millennia. “I wondered what it would be like to live for hundreds of thousands of years – to have been around since the building of the pyramids,” says Grahame-Smith. “What kind of personality would emerge from that eternal existence?”

Adam is a warrior, leader, politician and pragmatist. With his aristocratic bearing and Southern plantation home, Adam is like a malevolent Rhett Butler – a mix of elegance and menace. His goals, says producer Tim Burton, are in some ways quite relatable. “If you cast off your moral assumptions, then all Adam wants is a place where he and those like him can call home. He wants freedom for his kind, but of course that comes at a horrible cost for so many.”

Adam hopes that Abraham will become a formidable ally, instead of a deadly foe. “Adam, with all his abilities, is a politician and pragmatist, much like Abraham himself,” notes Sewell. “And the wonderful thing is, he gets a chance to meet with Lincoln, warrior-to-warrior, and in a way, president-to-president, because Adam sees himself as the leader of a kind of vampire nation. Adam doesn’t use force against Lincoln, not at first, because he’d much rather have Lincoln on his side.”

Abraham absolutely rejects Adam’s overtures for an alliance, and so must face the vampire’s full fury. “Adam can transition from an erudite, sophisticated and cultured ‘man’ to a creature capable of tearing your head off and sucking your lungs out through a hole in your throat,” says Sewell.

Adam commands nothing less than a vampire army, and his chief lieutenant and bodyguard is a gorgeous vampire named Vadoma, played by Erin Wasson. Wasson characterizes Vadoma as “a woman of few words, and an assassin. She and Adam make a good team.”

Vadoma is a fearsome soldier but her uniform is far from traditional Confederate Army issue. Instead, the sexy vamp favors a leather corset – her armor, of a kind – as well as a long, high-collared jacket. “She can also be one of the [vampire] guys,” adds the actress.

Vadoma, Adam and Abraham are the key players in one of the film’s biggest set pieces – a showdown at Adam’s plantation, where Abraham takes on dozens of vampires in a dizzying, dazzling dance of hand-to-hand (and axe-to-head) combat. Director Timur Bekmambetov calls it a “waltz of death” because the action explodes in the midst of a party whose guests are…slowly dancing.

The contrast between the scene’s genteel opening and its dark, edgy and violent conclusion is subversive. “The battle has incredible energy and velocity, and challenges what you think you know about big movie fight scenes,” says producer Jim Lemley. “It starts off like something from ‘Gone with the Wind,’ and then people are flying around a room, vampires are jumping off ceilings, and heads are being lopped off.”

Image Courtesy of  Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com

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