The film’s demise among the glut of summer blockbuster fare is not surprising. The idea of a revisionist history story of Abe Lincoln’s alter ego as a Van Helsing-like vampire hunter playing against the historical story of the Civil War and the emancipation of the slaves should never have been elevated above B-movie production values. Thus, the amount of money spent to make this movie (reportedly $70 million) is staggering. At best this is a Bruce Campbell movie (like Bubba Ho-Tep), an effect which raises our expectations for this idiosyncratic story of alternate history to actually penetrate the mainstream. It’s not all that bad, most of it is watchable, but at the end of the day, all people will remember of this film is its failure at the box office.
Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter (2012) dir. Timur Bekmambetov
Starring: Benjamin Walker, Dominic Cooper, Rufus Sewell, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Anthony Mackie
By Alan Bacchus
There’s no doubt the mere title of this movie is intriguing, the kind of cross-pollination project screenwriters spitball and discard just for fun. Somehow this one stuck. Well, first it started with Seth Grahame-Smith’s 2010 novel, which he adapted into his own screenplay for this film. Secondly, there was the attraction of Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, who also paired on the animated film 9. Presumably on the strength of this power pair it was a good bet for 20th Century Fox, who produced and distributed it.
At its core it’s a superhero origin story, initially introducing Lincoln as a child witnessing the murder of his mother at the mouth and fangs of a particularly nasty blood-sucking vampire. Lincoln spends the rest of his life vowing revenge against this beast of a man. Eventually finding his Jedi-mentor figure in Henry Sturges (Cooper), Lincoln learns the ways of the vampire and the skills to hunt and kill these creatures, which clandestinely have permeated America and are plotting to take over the country.
And thus, while Lincoln is building his career as a lawyer, by night he’s killing vampires one by one with his expertly wielded axe until he reaches the killer of his mother. Years later, after he become President and once again faces the threat of vampires aiding the Confederate military in the Civil War, Lincoln comes out of retirement to kick some more vampire ass in the name of American freedom.
Courageously, Burton/Bekmambetov cast a new face in the role of Lincoln with Benjamin Walker, who wears the Lincoln top hat nicely and makes a good young Lincoln in the opening half of the film. Like most superhero films the origin stories are the most intriguing, and while Grahame-Smith follows the mythological template to the letter, Walker’s fresh-faced performance and Bekmambetov’s flare with the action make it all visually stimulating.
The film loses steam in the second half with the elder President Lincoln (Walker in heavy makeup) dealing with the political ramifications of Emancipation and the Civil War. The use of the historically significant ordeal of black slaves in this uniformly pulpy material is kind of off-putting. The strong feeling of guilt watching Anthony Mackie’s Will Johnson, who becomes a target for the racist Vampire Confederates, was enough to make me uncomfortable. Bekmambetov and Grahame-Smith’s message here is trite and thus too exploitative of the issue of slavery.
But the film fails because of the lazy third act, an unmemorable action scene aboard a train, full of engorged and ridiculously unrealistic green-screen action, most of which is impossible by the laws of physics. And we don’t even get to see the assassination of Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth played out in the end – what a gyp!
**½
Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter is available on Blu-ray and DVD from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
9 (2009) dir. Shane Acker Starring the voices of: Elijah Wood, Christopher Plummer, John C. Reilly, Martin Landau, Jennifer Connelly and Crispin Glover
***1/2
By Greg Klymkiw
“9” is blessed with a simple narrative that, not unlike the little engine that could, drives the picture forward with the force of a powerful springboard – yielding big ideas and exquisitely generating emotional responses as viscerally thrilling as they are profoundly moving. Based on his acclaimed award-winning and Oscar-nominated short, director Shane Acker attracted the likes of such visionaries as Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov to assist with the production of his feature debut. Blending the dark magical qualities of the former and the razzle-dazzle rollercoaster ride action of the latter, Acker goes the distance and then some with this astoundingly gorgeous animated sci-fi adventure. He also brings his own unique visual style to the fore and creates a movie that careens through a futuristic, yet retro look that is altogether unique. On a story-level, Acker builds to a suspenseful climax and a conclusion that is almost as awe-inspiring in its sense of spirituality as the final moments of Spielberg’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”.
It’s a ride that keeps you glued to the screen and desperately wanting, by the end, to not leave the cinema. He keeps you wanting more and this is a considerable virtue, indeed. However, rather than leaving unanswered narrative questions, you are left with much that is cerebral and, dare I say, philosophical.
Set in a post-apocalyptic world that resembles our own (but early 20th century retro), a strange little rag doll with the number 9 stitched on his back (Elijah Wood), comes to life in a ramshackle room with the long-dead body of an old man, his inventor (Alan Oppenheimer). He eventually discovers others like himself, tucked away in a bombed-out cathedral while huge metal machine monsters roam the lifeless planet seeking to destroy the rag dolls. Led by the patriarchal #1 (Christopher Plummer), the dolls are convinced they must hide to survive, but #9 is convinced that the key to their continued existence is to fight back, and most importantly, try to discover the reason why the monsters are hell-bent on wiping them out. #9 leads the battle charge with the help of #5 (John C. Reilly), a mechanical whiz, #2 (Martin Landau), an old scientist, #6 (Crispin Glover), a feverishly crazed artist, #7 (Jennifer Connelly) a “gorgeous” ninja-styled ass-kicker (a “ninjette”?) and the hulking more-brawn-than-brains #8 (Fred Tatasciore). As it turns out, it’s not just the existence of the rag dolls that’s in peril, but the potential to bring real life back to the planet.
One of the extraordinary aspects of “9” is Acker’s use of the all-star cast of voices. This is not the usual assembly of names to inject boxoffice appeal into an animated film. Each and every actor used (save for one sore thumb) is endowed with the sort of voice one needs to give life to animated characters. Christopher Plummer is not surprisingly, in excellent form as the authoritarian figure that demands adherence to his belief that survival can only mean keeping the lowest profile possible. This said, however, would paint a portrait of a character far too one-dimensional for an actor as great as Plummer to be wasted on and there is another aspect of #1 that we get subtle glimpses of so that his eventual transformation comes as one of those surprises we should have seen coming right from the very beginning. All the other actors acquit themselves superbly, but the one low-point is Jennifer Connelly’s weak voice work that borders on cliché. But no matter, Wood is a great, finely textured hero, Reilly a warm and fun presence and Glover, especially and predictably brilliant as a tortured artist.
Acker has a real gift for blending images that are stunning in their detail – in fact, almost awe-inspiring – and yet, that are as dark and bleak as all get out. The shattered ruins of a civilization that once was – lying dead under greenish clouds of some vaguely nuclear haze are powerful indeed. Similar to the strange feelings evoked by John Boorman in “Hope and Glory”, his live-action autobiographical portrait of England during World War II where, to a child, there was something oddly fun about the Blitz in a boys’ adventure manner – Acker manages to make this dead world a kind of cool playground. To the dolls, it’s as dangerous as it is fascinating. And this is exactly one of the things that stays with you after you see “9”. Acker allows you to fill the shoes of his title character and much of what you experience is from his perspective. Even George A. Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead” had this going for it – especially in the main setting within the mall where the survivors create their own Heaven on an Earth that has become a living Hell. For the dolls in “9”, it’s especially evocative since they’ve never really known anything else and certainly for the title character, he is very much a child born into a world that is dizzyingly intoxicating.
The depiction of life before the apocalypse is seen mostly in strange flashbacks or film footage and yellowed newspaper clippings where Acker creates a Hitler-like global dictator referred to only as The Chancellor (Tom Kane), a foul despot who uses the scientist/inventor (whose corpse we see at the beginning of the film) to create a world of deadly machines that have a life and mind of their own. The scientist, duped into thinking his life’s work will be used for the good of mankind, suffers the slings and arrows of his own genius as he sees the machines used to destroy The Chancellor’s enemies and eventually, mankind itself.
This, of course, is where Acker parcels out the spiritual element of the picture. Though the cathedral is initially seen as a place of sanctuary, it soon becomes, like all symbols of organized religion, a place that represents authoritarian rule and not unlike the totalitarian evil that has destroyed the world. But what’s very interesting and extremely moving is how Acker depicts the notion of how many scientists – especially astrophysicists – have embraced the notion of a higher power. This is not God as some patriarchal old dude with a furry white beard, but something far more mind-boggling. It is the notion that science IS spiritual – that the very idea and essence of soul is so fully rooted in Creation itself. This is what eventually carries the picture to a conclusion that is tremendously moving.
“9” has a perfect running time. At 78 minutes it moves in mysterious ways. Though short in length, it’s a picture that has as many moments of breathing room as it does moments of utterly breathtaking, break-neck action. Contemporary audiences are so out of step with just how short many features were during the Golden Age of Cinema that it’s conceivable that some people might be taken aback by just how short it is. This, I feel, is their loss – getting one’s money’s worth at the movies has less to do with how much running time can be applied to a picture, but just how satisfying the ride actually is.
And make no mistake, “9” is a ride that is very much worth taking.
Like Spielberg’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, Acker infuses his film with a Judeo-Christian ethic and finally, it is a sacrifice – the ultimate sacrifice, in fact – which opens the doors to a sense of rebirth. And in a world as dead and bleak as the one Acker fashions, mankind’s redemption is only attainable through rebirth.
For much of the film’s running time, Acker presents us with a perfect example of what’s often referred to as “A Terrible Beauty”, but ultimately, what he delivers is pure, unadulterated beauty. It’s not something we get enough of in movies today. Most importantly, it’s not something we get enough of in life. “9” admirably fills a void on both counts.
Nightwatch & Daywatch (2004-2006) dir. Timur Bekmambetov Starring: Konstantin Khabensky, Mariya Poroshina, Vladimir Menshov, Zhanna Friske
** and ***1/2
If you saw the film “Wanted” this summer and couldn’t believe the over-the-top ridiculous carnage, perhaps you were wondering who was the brains behind that film. Genre-junkies know Timur Bekmambetov well by his a pair of audacious Russian fantasy action extravaganzas “Nightwatch” and “Daywatch”. A final film completing the trilogy will likely be made a released soon.
There was much as acclaim for the first film as there was confusion and bewilderment. While there is an achievement in creating a Hollywood-style fantasy blockbuster (Russia’s answer to “Lord of the Rings”) in Russia, Bekmambetov failed to condense the massive literary glut of the Russian novel into a coherent two-hours. It recalled David Lynch’s “Dune” – another visually stunning but incomprehensible sci-fi failure.
“Nightwatch” establishes the world of the “Light” and “Dark”, two opposing forces which, for centuries, have been in conflict. Apart from regular humans, there’s a race of people called “Others” with special abilities like telekinesis, or vampirism, or shape shifting etc. There’s been a truce since the middle ages thanks to mutual policing on each side by a group called “Nightwatch” and “Daywatch”. Our point of view into this world is Anton (Konstantin Khabensky), who we see in a flashback as he gets turned into a vampire (I think) and thus brought into the world of the “Others”.
In the present, while on the job Anton gets into a fight with a group of Dark Others and accidentally kills one of them – a major no-no and an act which threatens the peace. But Anton discovers that the Others were trying to kidnap a young boy who Anton learns is his son, Yeager. At the end of the first film Yeager is taken in by the Dark Army and thus becomes an enemy of Anton.
Which brings us to “Daywatch”, a completely different film in look and tone. With the rules of the world established Bekmambetov finally is allowed to let loose with the action extravaganza the series wants to be. “Daywatch” is bathed in a sumptuous blanket of saturated colours and a cornucopia of neon. It’s an eye-popping design, which feels like an audition tape for Jerry Bruckheimer.
The story starts a year after “Nightwatch” left off – for newbies, there’s no obligatory ‘recap’ lesson either. The structure follows the first, a flashback to ancient times tells of a magical piece of chalk with the ability to allow its user to travel back in time. From the audacious opening action scene, we know Bekmambetov has stepped up his ambition and directorial skills. Anton’s goal in this film is to find the magic chalk and use it to correct his mistakes and reunite with his long lost son.
Bekmambetov develops his supporting characters with greater care. There’s Svetlana (Mariya Poroshina), a stunningly gorgeous blonde who longs after Anton, but is put off by his coy, ‘hard to get’ attitude. She is also learning to use her powers, and can be absolutely badass when she wants to be. The femme fatal is the alluring Alisa (Zhanna Friske), a brunette, with a wolverine-like hairdo. The design of her outfit seems to be an influence on Angelina Jolie’s character in “Wanted.” Friske is just as badass as Jolie. Watch her character’s introduction – a fantastical set piece of action, which has her driving her car up the side of a building, crashing through a window, then through the hallways and crashing through the doors into the office of her boss.
Unlike “Wanted” we actually care for the supporting characters. Alisa longs to be with Kostya, an Other who is forbidden by his father from taking part in these dangerous activities. Unfortunately Alisa is married to the leader of the Dark Army, but with the magic chalk maybe she can change history and be with Kostya forever.
Bekmambetov’s attention to his characters means there’s greater stake in the action, which translates to deeper involvement and enjoyment of the film. “Daywatch” is one of the most ambitious action films ever made. He goes wildly over-the-top, but unlike “Wanted”, this extravaganza is in service an ever-involving story rooted in characters we love. Enjoy.
“Nightwatch” and “Daywatch” have been released on Blu-Ray by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
Wanted (2008) dir. Timur Bekmambetov Starring: James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, Terence Stamp, Thomas Kretchman
**
“Wanted” will likely be a big money-making, crowd-pleasing surprise hit of the summer. It stands alone as the only violent action film of the summer – a rarity in today’s era of mass market blockbusters. As one would expect from a poster of Angelina Jolie holding a handgun that’s bigger than her arms, it’s a balls out action film and an onslaught of the senses. Other than a few shock and awe moments though it’s a largely uncreative adventure and a bore.
Wesley Gibson is a typical bored office worker who despises his cubicle jungle. One day, a super hot woman named Fox (Jolie) tells him his father, whom Wesley never knew, was a super-assassin who has just been murdered. And the man who killed him is looking to kill Wesley. Wesley is told he has the same aptitude for assassinations as his father and is asked to join a ‘Fraternity of Assassins” who kill people at the whim of a textile loom that channels the will of fate – seriously.
Wesley joins forces with the Fraternity, and is led by the zen-like Sloan (Morgan Freeman) into a series of assassinations. But Wesley yearns to go after the killer of his father, and he quickly gets the chance when the evil assassin Cross (Thomas Kretchman) finds him first. Mondo action ensues and Wesley fulfills his destiny to be the best assassin in the world.
The film is essentially “The Matrix” – with a few minor adjustments or twists in the second half. Wesley Gibson, like Neo, yearns for something more out of life – he can feel he is 'different' than other people, but just can’t put his trigger finger on it. Like "The Matrix" he’s tracked down by both a really hot chick and a sooth-saying elder mentor who speaks in philosophical hyperbole. They convince him he has extraordinary powers, though Wesley, like Neo, doesn’t believe it. Our hero must go through a series of grueling and painful trials to train and prove his fortitude, worthiness and dedication to the cause.
"Wanted" is blood brothers to “Shoot ‘Em Up” as well, another audaciously over-the-top action picture that wears its influences on its sleeve. The difference being “Wanted” doesn't feel as if it’s paying homage or reference to its influences, just blatantly copying them.
"Wanted" tries to fool us with quantity over quality. Being an action-film junkie with discriminating tastes for the genre, Timur Bekmambetov’s direction is sloppy and distracting. He takes time to craft his action set pieces – which the story moves itself around to fit into – but relies on frenetic editing to assault our senses. To go back to the "Matrix" films the Wachowskis smartly used minimal cutting and let what was on the screen wow us. By cutting, zooming, swishing its camera to the extreme "Wanted" sorely lacks this cinematic confidence.
There are about six wow moments – five of which you have already seen in the trailer. The sixth one comes in the big finale and should generate some laughs, but look between these lines and you’ll a find sub-standard action film – something which Tony Scott, John Woo, Michael Bay, Paul Greengrass, John McTiernan, James Cameron, The Wachowski Bros, Robert Rodriguez, have done better.
To cut Mr. Bekmambetov some slack, it’s his first Hollywood film after making a name for himself for his "Nightwatch" and "Daywatch" films in Russia - two parts of an action vampire trilogy which I could barely sit through half an hour of before getting confused. He translates his hyper-stylized techniques to "Wanted" pretty easily, but it’s nothing new – a rehash of the fast-slow bullet-time cinematography we saw in the "Matrix" 9 years ago. As for the story, there’s nothing to be confused about "Wanted".
As for Angelina Jolie – she’s sexy alright, but so gravely malnourished it’s distracting. There will likely be several more “Wanteds” made after its inevitable success at the box office. There's lots of backstory that needs to be fleshed out, so contradictorily, I actually look forward to part II, but perhaps only to know how the Fraternity figured out that their textile loom is asking them to kill people, and not just serve them coffee or something.
