Liam Neeson?
The actor, Benjamin Walker, actually played a young Neeson, or rather a young Kinsey in "Kinsey." Haven't seen that film, but I assume it was without the nose prosthetic he wore in "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter." With the prosthetic, he was a spitting image, I thought. He also made for a believable Lincoln. They almost went the ruggedly handsome or pretty route for casting (I checked the imdb stats), and I'm glad they chose Walker so that the focus could be on the story, the character, and not a terribly handsome mug (I'm looking at you, Oliver Jackson-Cohen).
Anyway, as for the film itself, it was very well done. I'd heard some not so great things about the book (which I haven't read, obviously), but I was pleased with the film. The concept was intriguing, and a new spin on something old. Taking a hero and fictionalizing him into a legend, well...it was fairly brilliant, in my opinion. And also, turned out to be quite profitable for the author.
The movie entailed a few film concepts and trends that are now popular (or revived, as it were)--vampires that are angry and grotesque, scheming to harvest the humans, twisting history for the sake of film, and the almighty bromance (initially made popular by the Bob Hope and Bing Crosby "On the Road" films). I liked both the visuals and the concept. Missed the first five minutes of the film, and I wouldn't mind seeing it again to analyze it more in depth. Right now, I'm still digesting.
At the end of course, they made room for a sequel as all films do, but set in what appears to be today or the last few years. I wonder if they will make it a Hollywood celeb (Sam Jackson as a real life undercover badass sounds...reasonable, though the guy in this clip was clearly younger and white), or a politician. Actually, having politicians as modern day vampires would be believable.
Okay, so let me just say this... I read the book. And even though it read moreso like an autobiography than an action book, the film was HORRIBLE! I was sooooooo disappointed throughout the movie that i actually wanted my money back! The only convept they got from the book was that his name was Abraham and he was a vampire hunter! They neglected soooo many diff aspects from the book that the shit was just ridiculous! Everything was off! He learned of vampires from his dad. He killed the vampire Barts when he was young. He had 3 other children AND a stepmom and bros and shit. He didnt have a black best friend, the main villain didnt exist, his wife never knew of his life, the vampires of the north helped Him and henry. Silver had nothing to do with anything, and lets not even get started on Harriet Tubman and the underground railroad! I was thoroughly disappointed! I suggest u read the book!
ReplyDeleteWait, I thought you didn't like the book?
ReplyDeleteNot gonna lie--I liked him having a black bestie who doesn't die. And if it helps at all, the author also wrote the screenplay, so I guess he felt it necessary to streamline the book for the film?
Would you say you liked the film as a standalone, or was it disappointing cause it strayed so far from the book?
I have to say i am definitely an avid reader and i love all things paranormal, so the movie was disappointing... I think reading the book beforehand was probably the best thing, because even though it read like an autobiography and was a little boring, i love history. So the book was entertaining in that it retold facts about his life and added tidbits about vampires. Hell, im a political science major so it didnt matter if the film didnt follow the book, it was still extremely historically inaccurate. I already knew about Lincoln and his family and life, so the film was just horrible overall because im already biased. The fact that the author wrote the screenplay is even more absurd... After watching that movie all i wanted to do was go and angry blog on someones website!
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ReplyDelete