Movie Review - 'Daybreakers'

Daybreakers Starring Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, and Sam Neill Directed by Peter and Michael Spierig Rated R

It is admittedly hard to divorce yourself from all the vampire movies and TV shows and any other vampire movies or TV shows. But in a way, that's better, because when a good innovation comes around, it stands out that much more. Daybreakers, from writers-directors Peter and Michael Spierig, is not perfect, but it is ghoulish, inventive, and takes the familiar vampire blueprint and does something with it, which in and of itself is more successful than some recent ventures in this arena. The year is 2019, and a raging plague spread by bats has decimated the human population. Vampires run everything, but there's a problem: Because there are so many of them, the blood supply is almost dried up, and vampires, as cool as they might seem, pretty much stop at nothing to get the blood they need. This creates a massive headache for the culture, but an even bigger opportunity for a big pharmaceutical company. If a synthetic substitute can be found, not only will it save vampkind, it will push the company to never-seen heights. What could possibly go wrong? Edward Dalton (Ethan Hawke) is a hematologist, which sounds like a sweet gig in this environment. But he's not your average vampire, having sworn off human blood. But he is assigned by the brass at Bromley-Marx Pharmaceuticals (including a wonderfully steely Sam Neill) to discover the secret. Dalton knows that such a solution probably won't work and - here's the turn - he's sympathetic to the human cause, and happens upon a small band of unincorporated survivors. What I enjoyed most about Daybreakers, which I have to say, is tempered by some pretty silly dialogue and some scenes that don't seem to be controlled as well as they should, is the point of view. Unlike, say, Twilight, that fixes a human's perspective on a family of vampires, this film does it the other way, as Dalton takes note of what makes humans different from the marauding hordes. That's new. You'll also get a terrific supporting performance from Willem Dafoe, who generally gives exactly that, as a resistance fighter named Elvis and some good action, lots of gore, and a fully visualized new world. That's the good news. The bad news is the Spierigs run out of story before they run out of movie, and though it shows a championship flourish towards the end, this film starts out very strong, attracting your eye, then engaging your mind, and then sits in neutral for about 15 minutes in the middle. But because Daybreakers knows its genre and audience very, very well, that lull feels much longer. It does all the right things to get a fan of this type of movie involved and then takes a nap for a while. Some of that is to be forgiven, since the Spierigs are clearly onto something very cool and because a lot of the right buttons are pushed along the way. But it does become a little predictable and the lack of intensity towards the end of the second act, in which Daybreakers is visibly catching its breath for the big finish, dillute an otherwise surprisingly strong genre picture.

Comments

[Tjei]

The synopsys sounds like a Sundown Vampire In Retreat rip-off.

[jana]

This is the movie Ive most been looking forward to. No sparkles thank you! Its been getting great reviews too.

[JP]

Sundown Vampire In Retreat - Now there is an obscure movie reference. Sundown was a movie that never took itself seriously. The synthetic blood concept is taken from it, but the rest of this story is monumentally different. Although, Bruce Campbell showing up as the descendant of Van Helsing would be a nice touch. Or perhaps some wooden bullets? Don't see that happening.

:)

[ek]

Saw this tonight, I was entertained to say the least. Do not go into this hoping for the next interview with a vampire or something that tries to dramatize the Vampire world. In the back of my head I wanted Ethan Hawke or William Dafoe to just drop a "IM BAAAAACK" after they did something bad ass, great showing for both.
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[Jack V.]

There are some vampire movies that are just lame, the last one of the so call vampire movies is like watching a soap opera of vampires.

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