Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Directed by Timur Bekmambetov.

2012. Rated R, 105 minutes.
Cast:
Benjamin Walker
Dominic Cooper
Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Anthony Mackie
Jimmi Simpson
Rufus Sewell
Marton Csokas
Erin Wasson
Jaqueline Fleming
John Rothman
Alan Tudyk

So you think you know all about Abraham Lincoln (Walker), don't you? I betcha didn't know he was a vampire hunter? Me neither. As the story goes, his mother was killed by a vampire when Abe was just a little boy. One thing leads to another and Honest Abe eventually finds himself under the tutelage of Henry Sturges (Cooper). After getting coached up in the ways of killing blood-suckers, our hero starts taking out all the local vermin in hopes of eventually getting to the one that made a meal out of his mom. Well, Abe soon finds out that his adversaries not only want to control the country, but slavery has provided the monsters with easy pickings. When faced with the seemingly impossible task of stopping an unstoppable enemy what else is a vampire hunter to do but run for President?

As ludicrous as it sounds, I’m actually rather accepting of the premise. After all, you don’t go into Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter expecting an accurate re-telling of our nation’s history. Still, the movie doesn't quite deliver what the title promises. Don’t get me wrong, Lincoln does plenty of vampire hunting and killing. The problem is it’s strikes a rather joyless tone as if it really were recounting a somber episode from our collective past. Maybe it’s my fault for reading too much into the title, or for not reading the novel this movie is based on, but I was expecting something more fun. I thought I was going to get a movie that understands how silly it is and just goes for broke right out the chute. Instead, I got a film that gives a serious effort at making its goofy plot work.

The filmmakers are to be commended for giving it a go. Unfortunately, the story doesn't hold together well enough to pull it off. The revenge motif that starts things is typical. It’s transition from personal vendetta to country saving mission is clunky. The big twist regarding one of Abe’s pals is telegraphed from the moment we meet this person. The Mary Todd (Winstead) storyline is awkward. Finally, Harriet Tubman (Fleming) is shoehorned in merely for the sake of including her. There is no context provided as to why she is of any importance for viewers who may not have a clue about her. As if to emphasize she’s in the movie, other characters keep calling her by her full name.

As fast and loose as AL: VH is with the historical side of things, it is with vampire lore. For starters, it gets into Twilight territory with regards to daylight. Thankfully, there’s no sparkling but the sun is no issue. Why it isn't is less than halfheartedly explained away. Don’t look for anything about crosses, wooden stakes, or holy water to be mentioned, either. Instead, we steal from werewolves and make silver their lone weakness. Of course, this is so that Abe can wield an axe with a silver-tipped blade.

Honestly, the axe gives us whatever enjoyment there is to be derived from sitting through AL: VH. It’s a sick weapon (sick the way the young’uns say it, geezers). It does all sorts of cool stuff. Therefore, the movie is at its best when it dispenses with everything except Abe in his axe-twirling, vamp killing glory. His fight scenes are fun and contain some interesting visuals. Some of the battle scenes between union troops and vampires dressed as confederates are solid as well. The climax, involving a train, is interesting but too predictable to carry a real charge.

In the end, AL: VH is a movie where whether you like it or not depends entirely on how much weight you give the action scenes. It’s too-serious tone invites us to pay attention to the story, but that part of the movie bogs down under the strain of trying to mix real history with pure fantasy. Had it not undertaken that massive task, simply put its tongue in its cheek and shown some self-awareness it could’ve been a campy cult classic. Instead, it’s just another movie whose ambition outreaches its ability.

The Devil's Double

Directed by Lee Tamahori.

2011. Rated R, 108 minutes.

Cast:

Dominic Cooper

Ludivine Sagnier

Philip Quast

Mimoun Oaïssa

Raad Rawi

Nasser Memarzia

Tiziana Azzopardi

We follow the exploits of Latif (Cooper), a young Iraqi soldier hired to become the body double of Uday Hussein, son of none other than Saddam Hussein. Okay, hired isn't the right word. Forced is more precise, as in made to under the threat of harm coming to him and his loved ones. Quickly, we find out what was apparently Iraq’s worst kept secret. Uday is a complete psychopath. Life with him is a never ending stream of sex, drugs, rape, and murder. None of this sits too well with the straight-laced Latif. How can our hero possibly escape the hell he’s found himself in? Complicating matters, there’s a girl. There is always a girl. Based on the life story of the real Latif Yahia.

I meant what I said about the never ending stream of sex, drugs, rape, and murder. The movie wastes no time settling into a pattern of showing Uday snort coke, drink, make a lot of noise, commit a violent and often sexual act, then repeating the cycle. The difference between one set and the next is that whatever heinous act he engages in is an attempt to top the last one. While all this is going on, Latif looks on disapprovingly. Actually, he completes the cycle of events by voicing his disdain and/or refusing to do something Uday has ordered him to, at which point we get a battle of wills between the two. This pattern continues throughout the first two acts. It’s interesting simply for the sheer nuttiness of it all, but is isn't particularly thought provoking. We know what each guy is going to do every step of the way. Everything in this world is distinctly black or white. Nothing either man does even slightly veers from the path they started on before the opening credits were finished.

For the third act, we switch gears into The Bourne Identity territory. Of course, our couple on the run is being pursued by a government nut-job instead of shady bureaucrats. This is when the movie starts to rapidly fall apart. Set up and timing go out the window. Our hero, with girl in tow, show up some place and the phone immediately rings with Uday on the other end. The explanation doesn't jive, given our knowledge of the timeline, and leaves us a bit perturbed because we suspected as much but it feels like an impossibility. When we get to the finale, the bottom totally falls out. The movie lets us know that it is exactly what it has been threatening to be. It is a film entirely about Uday Hussein’s penis. Never you mind that the premise is bursting with possibilities. A picture inspired by the true story of the body double of the volatile son of a ruthless dictator during the days leading up to The Gulf War can do no better than showcase the villainy of the pecker. Sigh.

As shallow as it turns out to be, The Devil’s Double is hard to take your eyes off. The insanity is constant and the performances of Dominic Cooper are a sight to behold. As Uday, he chews scenery with reckless abandon. As Latif, he mostly just scowls, but it’s effective. Unfortunately, neither he nor his antics can carry the rest of the movie’s flimsiness. They struggle under the pressure of being its savior. As a result, Cooper’s histrionics as Uday grow tiresome as they become increasingly cartoon-like. This, in turn, crystallizes the main problem. Two men who share a potentially amazing story are reduced to uninteresting archetypes.

MY SCORE: 4/10

My Week with Marilyn

Directed by Simon Curtis.

2011. Rated R, 99 minutes.

Cast:

Michelle Williams

Kenneth Branagh

Eddie Redmayne

Dominic Cooper

Judi Dench

Zoe Wannamaker

Emma Watson

Julia Ormond

Toby Jones

Dougray Scott

The first time Marilyn Monroe (Williams) went to London it was on a business trip. Accompanied by her husband of three weeks, famed playwright Arthur Miller (Scott), and a number of handlers, she went to film what would become The Prince and the Showgirl. Her co-star and director is the legendary Sir Laurence Olivier (Branagh). During what was a very trying shoot, Marilyn befriends Third Assistant Director Colin Clark (Redmayne). As the title suggests, this is the story of their tumultuous week together.

Predictably, the notoriously troubled Marilyn is the center of attention. She frustrates Olivier to no end. She suffers wild mood swings, is ridiculously insecure and often hopped up on various pills. Williams’ performance is a near-perfect impersonation of the icon. More than that, she captures Marilyn’s fragility and the manner in which she wields her sexuality as the only weapon she feels comfortable using. It’s remarkable work that threatens to reduce Monroe to a caricature but manages enough humanity to make her a sympathetic figure.

No less brilliant is Kenneth Branagh as Olivier. He, no doubt has the showier role with many loud-voiced tirades and even an angry Shakespearean soliloquy. He balances this with heartfelt admissions as the movie wears on. He hits every note perfectly as does Judi Dench as Dame Sybil Thorndike, popping in on occasion to provide encouraging words to Marilyn.

Through the two leads, MWwM gives us wonderfully contentious moments between legends. We learn very early that Marilyn’s lack of training, acting ability and, perhaps most of all, professional etiquette offends his very soul. However, her raw sex appeal and presence are simply too much to be denied. Marilyn suffers the brunt of his verbal attacks making her even more unsure of herself than she already is.

While the fireworks between Marilyn and Olivier drive the movie, it’s the relationship of she and Colin that gives us its most touching moments. In him, we see a young man getting in way over his head but we can’t help admiring the tenderness with which he treats her. We truly feel his longing to save her. What we wish he’d understand is that she doesn't really want to be saved. Her manipulations are transparent to us, but not to him. How could they be? Imagine yourself a 23 year old straight male and the most beautiful woman in the world coming on to you.

The end result is a delightful movie filled with wonderful performances. It’s fairly light on offering any new insight into Ms. Monroe, but it does humanize her enough for us to grab hold of. It helps that, despite her forwardness, her relationship with Colin maintains a sense of innocence. It gives the impression of a story of puppy love while treading in some rather adult waters. That said, don’t come into MWwM thinking all the mysteries of Marilyn’s demise will be solved. It’s an entertaining, but small, chapter in the ill-fated star’s turbulent life.

Captain America: The First Avenger

Directed by Joe Johnston.

2011. Rate PG-13, 124 minutes.
Cast:
Chris Evans
Hayley Atwell
Tommy Lee Jones
Hugo Weaving
Sebastian Stan
Stanley Tucci
Dominic Cooper
Toby Jones
Neal McDonough
Derek Luke
Samuel L. Jackson

To say Steve Rogers (Evans) is weak is an understatement, at least in a physical sense. Mentally, he’s uncommonly pig-headed…er…determined. It’s 1942, and he’s hell-bent on getting into the military. After all, he hates bullies and there are none bigger than Hitler and his Nazis. Unfortunately, 90 pound asthmatics get turned away from service repeatedly. As it turns out, Dr. Abraham Erskine (Tucci) has been watching him. The doctor thinks Steve’s qualities, both physical and mental make him the perfect candidate to be the guinea pig in an experiment to create a super soldier using a special serum the doc invented. Lest you think Rogers is the only pumped up soldier in the world, high-ranking Nazi Johann Schmidt (Weaving) had already gotten a hold of an early version of the serum. He’s also gained possession of an ancient magical thingamajig that pretty much eviscerates anything its pointed at. So there’s that to deal with.

Captain America pulls the trick lots of other comic book movies struggle with. The origin story is at least as good as what happens after our hero becomes super. Rogers is established as such an underdog and is so feisty we can’t help but root for him. He feels ripped straight from the pages of the old comics. Not from the stories themselves, mind you. He’s from that ad in the back where the weakling gets sand kicked in his face. By the way, I’d be remiss if I failed to mention that this early portion of the film contains some of the more remarkable uses of cgi. We have no problem believing Chris Evans is short and scrawny. This also aids Evans in giving one of his very best performances.

Once our guy actually becomes the hero, which takes a while after he undergoes his metamorphosis, we get the action we came for and of course, the villain we came for. In the role of the bad guy, Schmidt AKA Red Skull, Hugo Weaving delivers the goods as usual. It’s not quite the iconic work he turned in as Agent Smith in the Matrix trilogy, but he has a way of making us feel uneasy without going over the top. When his true face is revealed, it does enough on its own. Wisely, he doesn’t break out in histrionics trying to act crazy. He has the confidence of a man who knows he’s frightening. He doesn’t have to prove it.

Marvel has managed to get its last few films right. This, along with Thor and Iron Man 2 before it, works as stand alone entries into the comic book giant’s film canon. They also work as catalysts for translating the idea of a Marvel universe to the big screen with this upcoming summer’s The Avengers. Before these three, each comic book movie was its own self-contained reality. Things have changed. Allowing these characters to be linked also allows for them to develop. We see Captain America do just that. Along the way there are bumps in the road. How he arrives where he does by the finale is bittersweet. It also leaves us very ready for The Avengers.

MY SCORE: 7/10