Daybreakers

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Claudia Karvan, Sam Neill, Michael Dorman, Isabel Lucas
Directed by: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Science Fiction
2010

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: In 2019, almost the entire population of the planet have been turned into vampires. They farm the few remaining humans for blood, but the supply of humans is in danger of running out. What will happen when there isn't a drop left?

Review:

Tim: What I appreciate about Daybreakers is that it is a wholly unique and different vampire movie. In fact, most of the movie doesn't even feel like a vampire movie. It feels like an action, science fiction film that just happens to be about vampires. I liked that about this movie. I also enjoyed how the film blended a supernatural thing like vampires with a very real, scientific explanation. Vampire movies have been done before, so it is nice to see something unique about them.

In many ways, I felt like this movie was too small for the story. It could have been a huge, epic movie, but instead, feels like the parameters of the movie held it back. There are a few impressive, almost beautiful shots, but even more so, I wish that the budget had been bigger. Also, as unique of a story and idea that this movie presented, I was disappointed to see that the film fell back on a number of vampire movie cliches. This just felt like sloppy, lazy filmmaking, and actually hurt the movie quite a bit. This is a film that presents a wonderful story and premise, but fumbles the execution a bit. I loved the potential of this film, but I was disappointed that it didn't quite live up to it.

The cast was fairly good. It is always nice to see Ethan Hawke in a film he can sink his teeth into (pun intended). He has a fairly good role here, and he does a decent job. I wish his character was a bit more developed, but Hawke did about as good as he could do with what he had. I loved the casting of Willem Dafoe, but I was horribly disappointed that he didn't have more to do. Dafoe as a vampire hunter (kind of) is a brilliant casting choice, but he wasn't given anything particularly interesting or memorable to do. This was a major mistake. I did not like the casting of Claudia Karvan. I am unfamiliar with her, but she seemed disinterested in the role. She added very little, and really gave a throwaway performance. I would have liked to have seen a stronger, more engaging actress in this role. Finally, I was glad to see Sam Neill in the film, but I wish he wasn't such a one dimensional villain. The film portrayed him in an almost lazy manner, as the typical action sci-fi bad guy. Neill deserved a better character.

I certainly didn't hate Daybreakers. I was very interested in the idea and the story, even though I didn't always love watching it. This is a movie that could have been significantly better than it was, but it also did enough right to escape a worse fate. It exists in that in-between- a movie that isn't exactly good, but isn't bad, either. The Spierig Brothers handled the film well enough, but still have much to learn. The film drags in certain places, and needed to move a bit faster. Still, this movie isn't all bad. While it didn't do enough to reach the heights it could have, I found parts of the film very enjoyable.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: 28 Days Later, Resident Evil, The Book of Eli, Gattaca