Book to Movie Adaptations: Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter

     Now, this is going to sound very librarian-esque, but it is most oftentimes sensible to read the book before you see it's movie companion.  It's like the golden rule.  Sort of.  With some TV shows, it's excusable.  Sometimes its even reversible- for example Richard Castle's Nikki Heat series or the Derrick Storm Series, which was a TV show before it was a book.  But for novel to book ones, yes - book first.  I could go through a huge list of "case-in-points," but I'd rather give one strong book-to- movie review of my own.

     Yesterday I went to see Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, novel and screenplay written by Seth-Grahame Smith and directed by Timur Bekmambetov.  After reading Smith's book last summer during my stint of vampire fiction, which included Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire series and Meg Cabot's Overbite.  At first I thought "what the heck is this?"  Next I thought, "I'm stoked," because it's one of the coolest presidents slaying some of my favourite fictional creatures.  

     I read it in two days.  My initial thought was that the novel was very well researched because the history of Lincoln was pretty spot on.  My second thought was that the narration was incredible- not only did it have me flipping pages but it also was very vivid, to have fleshed out so many characters and be able to remember each one from the next.  It's witty, well though out, and a breath of fresh air.  While I knew it was a good read, I never thought they would think to turn it into a movie.  Initially it read as very action-y, but it felt more like a good B-movie than anything.

    Boy was I wrong.  A few months after reading the book, I read a /film article about how someone had picked up the project- first rumoured to be Tim Burton, but later realizing that this wasn't true.  And on and on went the list of articles pertaining to the project-in-making.  
     The end result was brilliant.  The casting was really neat.  By neat I mean they were perfect- from the mannerisms to the looks, they were just what I pictured when reading the book.  Henry- played by Dominic Cooper- was great!  In the book, I had a love/love relationship with him as Abe Lincoln's mentor.  Benjamin Walker- *insert sizzle sound here*- was a great hook.  I love taking a chance on movies with new actors, or at least ones I have yet to hear of, and less history means I can be more open minded about them and less about what they have done well on before.  (Though on the other hand I am having a huge following for Michael Fassbender, of late, and always follow Nathan Fillion's projects.)  As they aged him, which was well done, I believed in his character still.  I will admit that the aging department is one weak point of the film because Mary Todd didn't seem to grow older- perhaps because there are only a few photos to be found of her- nor did Will Johnson seem to age.  I was pleased to see Alan Tudyk in the cast, if only as a minor jerk and pivotal opponent.  And then there's Rufus Sewell, the man I love to hate.  Every movie I have seen him in, he's that guy.  The "I'm going to take _ from you and be a cool, collected ass about it the entire time."  Come on, a knight's tale?  
     Anyways, I could go into much more depth about the book, scene for scene, but, overall, my opinion is that the movie was really well done and highly complimented the book.  Perhaps this is because Smith was able to write in and out the changes from book to film, but the point is that it was comic fun- not necessarily a vehicle for mass mind changing (see vampires as root of all evil in cases of Slavery and Native American genocide) - but meant for a good time.  It did not disappoint.