Daybreakers

Due to ever increasing amounts of snow, I've been unable to see any movies this weekend. So I decided I would review an old one that left a pretty strong impression on me: Daybreakers.

In the year 2017, a large portion of humans have been turned into immortal, reflectionless, blood-craving vampires. Those humans who remain are captured and farmed for blood by a corporation named Bromley Marks. The chief hematologist at Bromley Marks is Edward Dalton (Ethan Hawke), and he is in hot pursuit of a blood substitute to counter the diminishing number of captured humans. After meeting with humans Audrey (Claudia Karvan) and "Evis" (Willem Dafoe), Edward is able to devise a cure for vampirism. No one at Bromley Marks, however, wants this cure to exist.

To start with, the idea behind this movie is brilliant. It ventures into unexplored territory in the underused horror/sci-fi crossover genre. The directors are able create this deeply fascinating world with a personality all its own, and all in the first few minutes! Not only is the story written extremely well, but the dialogue as well. "Life sucks and then you don't die," being one of my favorites. The vampire society is able to create many interesting conversations that otherwise would be absent in human dialogue. The only instance of poor writing is the ending. I won't give anything away, but it is fairly nonsensical and extremely open-ended. A small amount of open-endedness is a good thing, but this one is so wide open that the viewer is left feeling disappointed in the unresolved plot. A sequel could set this one straight.

The acting is absolutely fantastic for a B-movie. Hawke played his part well, putting just enough vampire and just enough humanity. His depressed look is all but perfected here. Sam Neill does a great job as Charles Bromley, giving the antagonist just enough of a human side to make the audience understand him. He isn't one of those over-the-top villains which the audience hates with a passion. Dafoe's acting was fantastic as well, a necessary breath of fresh air. His southern accent and witty dialogue marked a move in the screenplay from darkness to light; a move that disrupts the atmosphere, but ultimately allows the story to progress forward. He brought an amount of human and humanity to the story that kept it from being overly dark. Overall, superb acting cast. Even the extras fit their parts perfectly.

The only remaining flaw was the violence. Occasionally I found myself saying, "Is that really necessary?" as chunks of flesh flew in all directions. On further contemplation, however, I think it was completely necessary. A larger budget would have made it more believable and less cartoonish, but the violence was ultimately a strong device employed by the directors.

Were it not for budget limitations and slight flaws in the plot, this one would be getting a perfect score from me. Still loved it though. 4.5/5

-Joe