Two relevant details to get out of the way: First, I've never read the novel that Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is based upon, so I can't really comment on whether or not it's a faithful adaptation. Second, I saw the film in 2D, and am thus unqualified to comment on its 3D incarnation. However, I can say that I didn't feel like I missed anything with the 2D version.
This film was never going to be a piece of critically-acclaimed art, and if you go to see it expecting such you're going to be heavily disappointed. You're also probably pretty stupid. It's called Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, for goodness' sake. If you're going to see Abe Lincoln, it's probably because the title and concept are awesome and you want to see a film that lives up to its name.
And, surprisingly, the film does live up to its name. It's a movie about Abraham Lincoln both as we know him from history and as a vampire hunter. It either takes itself deadly serious or is trying to be funny with how serious it takes itself. Which of those is the truth I've yet to decipher, but it matters little because Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is a stupid blast to watch.
The story has a lot of ground to cover, so the film moves very quickly. This is no character piece where we slowly learn the intricacies of Lincoln's life, but is instead a broad and sweeping roller coaster ride of big historical events laid underneath the alternate history of Lincoln as a dedicated vampire hunter, highlighted by two awesome action set pieces. The pace of the film is rather uneven because of this, but that speed also keeps the film from ever settling into anything that could possibly be boring and keeps it focused on the vampire hunting aspect of our hero. Sure, it also avoids depth, but you're not watching this movie to experience depth, are you? I hope not.
Acting is solid considering the subject material. Nobody's going to walk out of this one with prestigious acting awards, but they probably knew that when they signed up for the job. There were no bad performances, nor were there stand-out stellar performances. An even "good," then.
Visually, the film is rather painterly. Or perhaps cartoon-like would be a better way to describe it? You're going to see a lot of CGI and instead of trying to make that look real the film rolls with a very animated style. If you have some revenge grudge against CGI then you might have a problem with Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, but I rather enjoyed the well-executed visual aesthetic and it certainly remained consistent enough throughout. As with Wanted and his Night Watch series of films, Timur Bekmambetov employs quite a lot of slow motion in the movie, much of it unnecessary but also incredibly fun, and that summarizes the movie itself perfectly.
Sound was fine. Much of the story is carried by narration and the sound effects stay true to standards for a slow-mo-heavy action film. I didn't truly notice any of the music but what I can remember was decent enough and largely existed to complement the action.
Would I recommend Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter? If you're the kind of person who enjoys stupid fun movies, then there's no doubt that you should see this one ASAP because it provides a great amount of said stupid fun. It's the kind of movie that you can simultaneously laugh at and cheer on, and that's exactly what the title suggested it would be.
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