Four score and seven years ago (give or take a few decades), Abraham Lincoln wasn't just a champion of civil rights — he also slaughtered vampires.
by Shannon Vestal
Four score and seven years ago (give or take a few decades), Abraham Lincoln wasn't just a champion of civil rights — he also slaughtered vampires. That's the skewed re-imagining of our 16th president's life in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, the adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith's novel. Benjamin Walker plays Abe, a young man bent on avenging the vampire murder of his mother. When the mysterious Henry (Dominic Cooper) comes to Abraham's aid during a botched attempt to kill his mother's attacker, Henry decides to train Abraham to be a vampire hunter. Wielding his trusty axe, Abe the vampire slayer slaughters the monsters all over 19th-century America by night and pursues his political career by day. Before you head to the theater, find out which elements make the bloody, action-packed thriller movie worth seeing — along with the concerns that may keep you away.

- The fight scenes are exciting. The best parts of the movie are when Abe goes head to head with the vampires. He's a badass when he's got an axe in his hand, and the fighting is The Matrix-style, only with blood splatters.
- But . . . The Matrix did it better 13 years ago.
- Dominic Cooper and Anthony Mackie are fantastic. Cooper plays Henry, Abraham's vampire-killing guru, and he's smooth, charismatic, and the most interesting character in the movie. Mackie plays Abe's childhood best friend and eventual partner in vampire exterminating, and he's so watchable that I wished he'd had more scenes.
- But . . . Cooper and Mackie aren't the stars of this movie; Benjamin Walker is. And while Walker is attractive and certainly looks the part, he's just a bit too bland. It's partially the way the character is written; when Abe's not axing the crap out of the undead, his personality is as wooden as the trees he chops down.
To find out the other ups and downs of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, just read more.