Film Review: ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER (2012)

Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Writer: Seth Grahame-Smith (novel/screenplay)
Running time: 105 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Action/Fantasy/Horror
UK Release date: 20^th June 2012

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 8^th June 2013.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE UNINTENTIONAL SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I must admit when the book came out I initially loved the premise of this story. As time passed and it very quickly got snapped up and made into a movie, I began to wonder if my initial hope was misplaced. You see, I’m always wary of Hollywood; they never play the long game when it comes to movies. It’s quick bucks right now and hang any artistic integrity... But that’s another story; we’re here to talk about Abe Lincoln and his vampire hunting hobby. So here’s a very brief summary before I tell you just what I thought.

As a child Abraham Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) had already come into contact with vampires when his own mother, Nancy (Robin McLeavy) was killed by one of them, Jack Barts (Marton Csokas). Now older, and after his father had passed, he was now free to exact his revenge and to this end he sought some courage in a bar. Here he meets Henry Sturges (Dominic Cooper), who will have a profound effect on his life. Sturges teaches Lincoln all about vampires, and most importantly, how to kill them. Lincoln proves very adept at using his preferred weapon, a modified axe. And so he goes on with his life, killing vampires whenever he comes across them; but still studying law. His friends old and new join him, including Will Johnson (Anthony Mackie) and Joshua Speed (Jimmi Simpson). And of course he meets his future wife, Mary Todd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). But the vampire leader, Adam (Rufus Sewell) has plans for Lincoln; plans that will throw the whole country into civil war.

Now, Timur Bekmambetov is well known for the effects he uses in his movies and this is no exception. There is blood and gore all over the screen as death is meated out in many and varied ways, all in glorious slow motion. The trouble is we’ve already seen that kind of stuff before; there’s nothing new or particularly innovative here. Yes, it’s very well done; the effects guys did an excellent job; but I would have liked to have seen something different. The plot; again disappointing, it just followed well documented events in Lincoln’s life and added a narrative that meant he had to do this or that to thwart the vampire hordes. Not exactly groundbreaking either. The performances were all pretty good although nobody really stood out and nobody looked like they were really stretched either. Over all I found it pretty disappointing; not quite as bad as ‘Jonah Hex’ (2010), but heading that way.

SteelMonster’s verdict: NOT RECOMMENDED (Unless you’re a die-hard vampire fan…)

My score: 4.8/10.

IMDb Score: 5.9/10 (based on 70,080 votes when this review was written).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1611224/

MetaScore: 42/100: (Based on 35 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 35/100 (based on 180 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 52/100 (based on 215,748 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/abraham_lincoln_vampire_hunter/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abrahamlincolnvampirehuntermovie
Trailer:

Film Review: THE THING (2011)

Director: Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.
Writers: Eric Heisserer, John W. Campbell Jr. (short story "Who Goes There?")
Running time: 99 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Horror/Mystery/Sci-Fi
UK Release date: 2^nd December 2011

Watched on Sky+ Monday 15^th October 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I remember with great affection John Carpenter’s 1982 classic, The Thing. For me, it’s one of the very best Sci-Fi/Horror films and when I heard they were making a prequel I was excited. It got released and was less than warmly received and so I decided to give it a miss until it turned up on TV. Since I'm writing this you can probably guess it turned up on TV. I’ll save my comments for the end; here’s a very brief summary first.

A group of Norwegian scientists discover an alien spacecraft buried under the Antarctic ice. They also discover the remains of a survivor. They bring in American scientist Kate Lloyd to aid with the investigation. The alien is dug up in a solid block of ice and taken back to their base and before long it has broken free of the ice surrounding it and has begun to wreak havoc around the base. This creature is special; it can mimic any organic being and so the crew don’t know who, or even what, they can trust. I’ll leave it there or the Spoiler Police (Antarctic Division) will be sending me to tidy up the base (again).

Pretty well made with some nice CGI taking the place of the physical effects used in the Carpenter film. The performances were all ok with nobody particularly standing out. So honourable mentions go to; Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Kate Lloyd, Joel Edgerton as Sam Carter, Ulrich Thomsen as Dr. Sander Halvorson, Eric Christian Olsen as Adam Finch, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Derek Jameson, Paul Braunstein as Griggs, Trond Espen Seim as Edvard Wolner, Kim Bubbs as Juliette and Jørgen Langhelle as Lars.

The main problem with this film is that it does nothing John Carpenter’s film didn’t do. Aside from some quite graphic CGI and a pretty good sequence inside the alien spacecraft, it had very little else to offer. It’s a shame really because I was expecting more. There is very little character development so you don’t really care who might not be human at any moment. There’s lots of action with little substance I’m afraid and so it doesn’t get my seal of approval I’m afraid. So why 5.5? Well I did like the sequence inside the spacecraft, the CGI was pretty good and I did like the way the ending tied in with the beginning of John Carpenter’s film.

SteelMonster’s verdict: NOT RECOMMENDED (Particularly if you’ve seen John Carpenter’s film ‘The Thing’ (1982))

My score: 5.5/10

IMDb Score: 6.3/10 (based on 50,502 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0905372/

MetaScore: 49/100: (Based on 31 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 36/100 (based on 158 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 43/100 ‘Liked it’ (based on 35,586 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_thing_2011/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
[first lines]
Peder: [In Norwegian] Okay, I've got another one. A good one. A man and woman are making love one night when their young boy walks in.

Adam Finch: In the three years that I have known him, this is the most excited I have ever seen him.

Sam Carter: And the last place you want to be is cooped up with a dozen of Norwegian guys.

Adam Finch: You know, I never believed in this shit.
Jonas: I always did.

Colin: You think they're gonna pay a bonus for bringing home an alien instead of core samples?

Lars: [to Matias] That's not a dog! Start the helicopter now!
[both get into helicopter]
Lars: Get it up now! Come on!

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site: http://www.universalstudiosentertainment.com/thing-the-2011/
Trailer:

Film Review: SCOTT PILGRIM vs. THE WORLD (2010)

Co-Writer/Director: Edgar Wright
Running time: 112 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12A

UK Release date: 25th August 2010

Watched at the cinema Saturday 28th August 2010.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I heard many good things about this movie before I went to see it. Even so, I didn’t go in with too many expectations… I wasn’t disappointed. This was probably the most enjoyable movie I’ve seen so far this year. I walked out of the cinema with a smile on my face and there was even a spring in my step as I went over the preceding 112 minutes in my mind.

Scott Pilgrim is a 22 year-old living in Toronto, Canada with his gay flatmate, Wallace Wells. Scott plays bass in a band called Sex Bob-Omb which consists of Scott (of course), Kim Pine on drums, Stephen Stills on lead vocals and guitar and Young Neil as hanger-on. The band has ambitions to be famous and so have a gig coming up at a Battle of the Bands show. At the start of the film he is dating a seventeen year old schoolgirl called Knives Chau. Things seem to be going along quite well until Scott has a vision of a girl called Ramona Flowers. He becomes besotted by her and they end up hanging out together and eventually dating. Unfortunately Scott soon learns that if he wants to date Ramona he must first defeat her seven evil exe’s! Can Scott defeat these evil exe’s and win Ramona? What will Knives think of his infidelity? All these questions and many more remain to be answered… until you’ve seen the film of course.

As I said at the beginning, this was probably the most enjoyable film I’ve watched so far this year. I found the quirky mix of live action with comic book elements quite refreshing and it gave the film an interesting look and feel that I liked a lot! Great performances all round, especially from Michael Cera as Scott Pilgrim, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Ramona Flowers, Kieran Culkin as Wallace Wells, Mark Webber as Stephen Stills, Alison Pill as Kim Pine and Ellen Wong as Knives Chau.

This will most certainly feature in my best of the year awards in December. It did start to lose me a bit towards the end, but I won’t hold that against it. A really well made film which deserves the praise it has got (IMO). Well worth the entrance fee and very highly recommended.

My score: 8.3/10

LINKS:
IMDb Site: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0446029/
Official Site: http://www.scottpilgrimthemovie.com/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/imdb/vi1217070617/