Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 37% (Critics) / 75% (Audience)
Directed By: Timur Bekmambetov
Written By: Seth Grahame-Smith
Starring: Benjamin Walker, Rufus Sewell, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Anthony Mackie and Dominic Cooper
Studio: 20th Century Fox

Synopsis: Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, discovers vampires are planning to take over the United States. He makes it his mission to eliminate them.
(Source)

The Good:
The first half of the film chronicling a young Lincoln’s journey from vengeance feuled hothead to capable vampire killing bad ass was really enjoyable. There was a sense of fun and a cool energy to the proceedings.
Timur Bekmambetov penchant for making visually appealing movies was on full display here.

The Bad:
Too bad the second half of the movie where we are following along with Lincoln’s retirement from vampire hunting and rise to the presidency was such a bummer. To try and tackle serious issues in a movie like this is just ridiculous and only served to completely kill any of the momentum the movie had going for it.
I also found the relationship between Lincoln and Mary Todd to be a total borefest. There was zero chemistry between Benjamin Walker and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

The Ugly:
The overly hyper-edited fight scenes were terrible to follow.

Final Verdict: When the focus was on a young Lincoln using stylized kung-fu to butcher creatures of the night with his trusty ax ALVH was a fun bit of summer movie escapism. When the movie veered into historical dramatization territory the film became a chore to sit through. The adventures of a pre-President Lincoln hunting vampires would have made a really entertaining 2 hour movie…there was no need to focus on a 50-something year old Pres. Lincoln at all and by doing so Bekmambetov and Grahame-Smith ripped the goofily charming heart out of this flick. C+