Release Date
January 8, 2010
Writer
Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
Genre: Horror/
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Michael Dorman, Claudia Karvan, Sam Neill, Isabel Lucas, Vince Colosimo, Paul Sonkkila
Director: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
Screenwriter: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
Producer: Chris Brown, Sean Furst, Bryan Furst
Composer: Christopher Gordon
Studio: Lions Gate Films
Movie Reviews:
In Daybreakers, the world is ruled by vampires, the result of a plague that has transformed the majority of humans into bloodsuckers. The vampires in this universe are not faced with the typical problems they often face in Hollywood movies - like being chased by werewolves, falling in love with humans or fitting into a tight leather outfit. In this world, vampires go to work at night. They drink "blood coffee" topped with "blood whipping cream". They smoke cigarettes. They drive BMWs. Unfortunately, in this vampire world, there is one colossal predicament they must face - there is a shortage of human blood. As a result, the humans who remain on the earth have been forced into hiding as they are continually being hunted and killed for their blood. Pure human blood is a rare delicacy. The vampires who are not getting enough human blood are turning into winged demons who, in turn, are terrorizing the "normal" vampires. It's a nasty cycle, if you ask me.
Edward Dalton (Ethan Hawke) is a vampire hematologist who is working on a blood substitute that is aimed at sustaining the vampire population. Dalton, ironically, has a soft spot for the humans and refuses to drink the pure blood. This, despite the fact that he works for a company run by Charles Bromley (Sam Neill) that sadistically farms human bodies for their blood. In our world, it would be like a cow farmer who is a vegan - it makes no sense. Nevertheless, Dalton's warmheartedness towards humans leads him to a woman named Audrey who, it turns out, is part of a small rebel alliance that is on the run from the vampires. The outfit is led by a kooky character named Elvis (Willem Dafoe) who carries a secret that could save the human race and ensure that the earth has enough blood for the vampires. Unfortunately for Edward, Audrey and Elvis, Charles Bromley feels this will threaten his lucrative blood business and he assembles his own army to eliminate the trio and all their cohorts. Edward The Vampire and his new human friends must now run for their lives before their secret is lost forever.
The one thing I really liked about Daybreakers is its somewhat unique view of the world of the vampire. Sipping on a blood red latte, endlessly smoking cigarettes, driving in a BMW that blocks the sun - it was all done very well, although they could have cut out the excessive smoking. I mean, really - vampires smoking? Seeing them puff on a blood-soaked human finger, now that would have been cool.
Having the vampires struggling in a world that is short of human blood was also a refreshing twist on what we have seen in the past. Seeing the vampires deteriorate into these grotesque winged creatures added some much needed suspense and a bit of bloodshed to the movie. There are a few scenes where you will be sure to jump in your seat. Unfortunately, the winged critters seemingly disappear as the movie progresses and we are left kind of hanging on that storyline.
This brings me to the next problem with Daybreakers - the storylines. For a movie that was relatively short (it runs somewhere around 90 minutes), there seemed to be a lot happening. Whether it be Dalton's involvement with the humans, his relationship with his brother, Bromley's struggles with his estranged daughter, the struggles of the humans, the endeavours of the vampires, the mutant vampires - there's a lot to wrap your mind around in such a short period of time. I don't know about you, but I don't always have that much space available in my head to do all that wrapping. It made the movie seem to be a bit too much at times and maybe took away from the main focus of the movie - the blood, the vampires and the humans.
Besides that, Daybreakers is blessed by a fabulous performance by Willem Dafoe. He plays the quirky Lionel "Elvis" Cormac who pretty much steals every scene in which he appears. Ethan Hawke is also solid as the much more sombre and serious Dalton. Sam Neill is perfect as the cold-blooded (excuse the pun) executive. I thought that more could have been done with the human, Audrey (Claudia Karvan), who really had little impact on the movie or at least didn't have a very compelling character.
Overall, I will say that I liked Daybreakers. In some ways, it's a fresh look at the vampire genre. The human farm was interesting, as was a vampire hematologist who wouldn't drink blood. I don't think we'll ever see that again. Dafoe and Ethan Hawke were compelling lead characters. There seemed to be a lot of story squeezed into a relatively short movie but it still managed to be an exciting 90 minutes in the theatre. Daybreakers will not be released until January 8th so keep this one on the radar. It will be worth the trip to the cinema in four months time
