I know the movie has been out for a little bit now but I just got around to seeing it a few days ago. I was really excited to see it. I made a point of reading the book before seeing the movie. BIG MISTAKE! If you want to fully appreciate the movie, DON’T read the book first.
Film adaptations of books historically screw things up. Sometimes heavily. This is the worst I have seen yet. About 98% of the stuff happening in the movie NEVER happened in the book or even came close to happening.
Now, this isn’t a book review but I will say the book was incredibly well written by Seth Grahame-Smith. He also wrote Pride, Prejudice, & Zombies. That is also a fantastic read. Made my second trip through Pride & Prejudice so much easier. I strongly suggest you read both of these.
Any great reviewer, like myself, should be able to separate the movie adaptation from the book. Of course I can objectively look at just the movie. The movie alone was pretty good. There were several instances where I threw my hands in the air, turned to my fiance, and said “Really?” They over looked some well known historical facts, such as Mary Todd Lincoln’s crippling depression after the death of two of her sons. Come to think of it, they only mentioned one of the Lincolns’ children and never let you know that they had four children all together. These oversights did bother me.
The movie had some very thrilling moments. There was a scene on a train that lead to a burning wooden bridge that would keep you on the edge of your seat. The vampires are kind of creepy. They don’t do a good job of explaining why they can walk around in the daytime. That is explained in the book. There are some moments when you think Lincoln might get caught by vampires.
It may seem that I have a lot of problems with this movie cause it is mostly not like the book. That is probably true. But you will definitely enjoy the movie. And the book if you like reading. I was told by my fiance that there is 40 minutes of movie out there that was cut. Maybe that would help with some of my book to movie problems. We shall see if there is ever a director’s cut released. For now, just go see the movie.
