Film Appreciation †Abraham Lincoln : Vampire Hunter (2012) Essay

1. Presumed and inferred event. Synopsis Abraham Lincoln who is the 16th President of the United States of America, happens to stumble upon the plans of the vampire clan who wanted to overthrow and take over the country in order for the clan to grow. The story evolves around Abraham who wishes to stop the plan to be taken to action. 2. Explicity and presented event. This movie starts with the main character, Abraham Lincoln, writing his diary about his life and journey. It then slowly moves into the flashbacks of his life, all the way back to when he was a kid in the year of 1818. Having the movie started in such a way helps the audiences to have an in depth sensation on the story, and it also stimulates the minds of the audiences in believing the story. The rest of the story can be found in the later part, in the section of the storyline. 3. Added non diegetic materials. This movie uses a total of 22 soundtracks that were composed by Henry Jackman, and the first song in the ending or the closing credit played was by Linkin Park, entitled Powerless, as according to Wikipedia (2012). However, based on the IMDB (2012), there were another 6 songs that were not included into the list of soundtrack, of which were also mentioned that the songs listed in their database are sometimes, not to be found on the CD soundtracks. â€Å"The Student Waltz† was one of the songs that were in the movie, whereby Abraham Lincoln was dancing with Mary Todd. In that particular scene, both Abraham and Mary were sharing their thoughts together, and finding themselves more alike than they ever knew, and the song played at the background helps to create a romantic atmosphere around the both of them. The other song that caught the attention is also the first closing credit song, Powerless by Linkin Park. In that scene, it shows a white brownish backdrop with drops of blood, forming lines in which at the end is seen to be drawing out the map of the United States of America, where the lines are the separation of the states that were in USA. The song Powerless, as the title says it all, gives us the feeling of being powerless in seeing how a nation being broken into different parts of states instead of being united as one. Characters : Abraham Lincoln – The main character, who stood up against the vampires and also the President of the United States. Henry Sturgess – Abraham’s mentor, who taught him how to be strong to fight the vampires. William Johnson – Abraham’s friend from the past whom he tried to protect when he was a kid, trying to protect Will who was being abused due to slavery. Mary Todd Lincoln – Abraham’s wife. Adam – The villain, vampire leader. Jack Barts – One of the vampires, the killer of Abraham’s mother. Joshua Speed – Abraham’s employer, who hired Abraham to work in his store, and gave him a place to stay, who eventually became Abraham’s assistant in the White House. Thomas Lincoln – Abraham’s father. Nancy Lincoln – Abraham’s mother. Vadoma – Adam’s sister. William Wallace Lincoln – Son of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln. Storyline. The story begins with Abraham, writing his diary while remembering the things that has happened in the past. It started to flash back into the year of 1818, where he was living with his parents, Thomas and Nancy Lincoln, who were workers in a plantation owned by a guy named Jack Barts. Abraham who was at the plantation with his parents, witnessed his friend, William Johnson and her mother, who were dragged out and was tortured by one of Jack Bart’s men. Unable to control himself, Abraham took an axe and went on to try and attack the man who was beating up William, only ending up to be captured, overthrown and beaten by that man. Upon seeing this, Thomas stood up and tried to protect his son, stopped that man from his continuous beating on his son and William, and ended up pushing him into the river. Jack Barts came out of his office and found out what happened, and had Thomas and his family fired. That night, as Abraham was still awake at the attic, looking down at his mother who was sleeping soundly, he realised a figure coming into the room, and he hid himself. He later saw that the figure was no other than Jack Barts himself, and he saw Jack bit Nancy and left. The next morning, Nancy was very ill, and died moments later, with Abraham alongside her on her bed. Thomas made Abraham promise that he will not seek Jack for revenge, for as long as he is alive, knowing that the repulsive Abraham will make a silly move such as that. Nine years later, Thomas died and Abraham knew that he is no longer bound by the promise he made to his father, attempts to seek revenge on Jack for killing his mother. As he was drinking in a bar, trying to get some courage into himself before he proceeds to kill Jack, he met with Henry Sturgess. Henry spoke to him, saying that a young man drinks only for two reasons, that is to kiss a girl, or to kill a man. As he shags Abraham on his shoulder, a gun fell off from Abraham’s jacket, and Henry knew right away that the answer was the latter. Abraham then picks up his gun and left the bar, heading to Jack’s plantation, with his sole purpose of killing him. As he was hiding himself while waiting for his chance, he saw Adam and Vadoma for the first time, but he knew nothing about them, neither was he concerned about who they were and why were they there with Jack Barts. Abraham made his moves and caught Jack by surprise, only to fail in his first attempt as his gun couldn’t fire. He ran from Jack and hid himself in a hut while trying to reload his gun and trying to stop Jack from coming into the hut. The moment Jack pushed the door open, Abraham fired his gun and the bullet hit Jack on his right eye. Thinking that Jack is dead, Abraham threw his gun into the river and walked away from the scene. However, as he turns his head to look at Jack’s body for the last time, he realised that Jack is missing and is nowhere to be found. All of a sudden, Jack appeared right in front of Abraham, catching him off guard, and tried to kill him. Abraham, who was still in shock and confused, could not react in time but to be thrown and beate n by Jack. Knowing that he shot Jack and killed him, but for some apparent reason, Jack is still alive and beating him up badly. Just as Jack is about to kill Abraham, Henry came to stop Jack and threw him out of the scene. Henry then took Abraham home and tended to Abraham’s wounds in his house. As Abraham wakes up from his rest, he was told that Jack, whom he tried to kill, is actually a vampire. Thinking that vampires are just myths and legends, Abraham could not believe what he heard from Henry, but only to be convinced by Henry after finding out that Henry is a hunter. He then begs Henry to teach him how to hunt and kill a vampire, since Jack is a vampire and he is seeking any possible ways to kill him for revenge. Knowing Abraham is full of vengeance spirit, Henry told Abraham that he will only teach him if he promises to forget his revenge, live a solitary life with no attachments, and also to hunt vampires only as instructed by Henry himself. Wanting to learn the ways to hunt and kill a vampire, Abraham lied to Henry, giving him an answer that he wishes to hear. Upon completing his training with Henry, Abraham left and went to Springfield and met with Joshua Speed as he was looking for a place to stay. Because he had no money left, Joshua offered him a place to stay in return for his service as the store clerk. From then on, Abraham worked with Joshua, until the day she met with Mary Todd, and fell in love with her that very instant. At the same time, he received a letter from Henry, mentioning his first ever vampire hunt location and the name of the vampire. As night approaches, Abraham started his move, and killed his very first vampire, burying the body in the woods. Soon, more lists were sent by Henry to Abraham to kill the vampires that were in Springfield. One fine night, Abraham was visited by an old friend who was in town, and was told that he was being hunted for trying to free slaves. As Abraham grew in sharing his ideas on freeing the slaves, he gotten the attention from the senator and he began his journey as a politician from th en on. Henry came to town to warn Abraham not to be involved in politics as well as relationships, but all Abraham cared was to seek revenge on Jack. Arguing his way out of vengeance, Henry finally gave in, and told Abraham that it is time for him to kill Jack Barts. Before leaving, Henry gave Abraham a silver watch with engravings of words, â€Å"Time waits for no men†. Abraham then sets out to Jack Barts’ plantation with the intention of killing him. However, moments before dying in the hand of Abraham, Jack revealed that Henry, Abraham’s mentor, is also a vampire himself. Upon hearing that, Abraham went to confront Henry after he killed Jack Barts. Seeing Henry being a vampire sucking on human’s blood, Abraham became furious and attacked Henry. Feeling confused and betrayed, Abraham knew of no other solutions but to try to kill the man who taught him all that he knew about hunting a vampire. Henry then tried to calm him down, and told him the story of how he became a vampire. He also told Abraham the curse of the vampire, and that only a living can kill the dead. After hearing his story, Abraham cuts off his ties with Henry, and begins his journey of life. That very night, he proposed to Mary Todd and they got married. Adam soon found out about the death of Jack Barts, and ordered Vadoma to send an invitation to Abraham to his trap Adam set for Abraham in his own plantation. In order to make Abraham obey and accept his invitation, Adam had his men kidnap William as well. Abraham then made his way to Adam, with the company of Joshua and he tried to tell Joshua what they are about to face, but Joshua thought it was just merely a joke, until he saw the event himself. Abraham then went in ahead to try and rescue William, only to be captured by Vadoma. He was then given a choice to kill Henry, his mentor, or to be suffering from the same faith as Henry, and William being killed right before him. Just moments before Adam slits William’s throat, Joshua came in with the carriage, hitting Vadoma on the way, and managed to get both Abraham and William out. As they were escaping from Adam’s troops, they came in contact with the slaves that were in hiding from Adam, who took them to their hideout. After that, they fled to where they came from, and Abraham started his speech on freeing the slaves, after what he saw back then. Henry then re-appears before Abraham, telling him that having the slaves there is what keeping the vampires under control as the vampires uses the slaves as their food. Having this chains broken will only cause an outbreak and retaliation from the vampires. Neglecting the advices from Henry, Abraham proceeds with his speech of freedom to all slave. Soon after, he was elected to be the President of the United States, and he and his wife moved into the White house, of which they have their son born into their lives, William Wallace Lincoln. Despite the warnings from his mentor, Abraham went on ahead in signing the Emancipation Proclamation that sets the civil war to take place. Unknowingly to him, the Confederate President has consulted Adam to seek his assistance in sending his undead army to be in the front line against the soldiers from the United States who knew nothing about the vampires, in return a nation to be given to the vampires to grow and expand on their own accord. Vadoma was also on the move into the White House, and gave William Lincoln a bite, and causes his death. Devastated, Abraham who were having dinner with his wife, suddenly realise the idea of the vampires’ weakness, silver. He then ordered all the silver materials found in the household are to be confiscated and are to be used to make weapons against the undead army. Joshua then went to Vadoma, revealing Abraham’s plan in moving the silver to the soldiers in the south fighting the army of the undead by train and gave Vadoma the schedule of the delivery. However, the train was just a decoy to capture the attention of Adam into believing that Abraham is sending the weapo n of destruction to the to Adam’s vampire army. As Adam climb onboard of the train, he soon realised that there weren’t any silver on the train and it was filled with only stones. Knowing that he was tricked, Adam killed Joshua for betraying them, right before Abraham, William Johnson and Henry. As the railroad collapse, Adam tried to gain information from Abraham in regards of the location of the silver weaponries, only to be stabbed by Abraham, using his silver watch, and that puts an end to the vampire leader, Adam. Abraham’s wife, Mary, led the slaves into delivering the weapons to the soldiers fighting in the south. She soon realised that Vadoma, the killer of her son, was there in the barracks. Getting a rifle to herself, Mary found Vadoma. She then pulled her necklace off, and inserted it to the rifle, having the small little knife that William Wallace used to play with before he was killed as the pendant. She then fired towards Vadoma and it killed her instantly. The civil war finally came to an end. Henry offered to turn Abraham into a vampire, so that they could live forever and make changes to this world, but was turned down by Abraham who told him that very same line Henry had engraved in the silver watch he gave to Abraham, â€Å"Time waits for no men†. Reference List IMDB. (2012). Abraham Lincoln : Vampire Hunter. Retrieved February 5, 2013, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1611224/ Wikipedia (2012). Abraham Lincoln : Vampire Hunter. Retrieved February 5, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln:_Vampire_Hunter