Daybreakers

In an age where vampires have become so romanticized that they’ve lost most of the things that made them terrible creatures of the night, it’s refreshing to have a movie that prefers to give the monsters their teeth back. Daybreakers may not be the best movie I’ve seen recently, but it is an enjoyable deviation from the overly romantic approach vampires have been given in books, movies, and television lately. It’s an entertaining piece of fantasy and science-fiction that is clearly thought out and rooted in tradition instead of whatever appeals to the hearts of teenage girls.

In 2009, an outbreak of a disease led to most of the world becoming vampires. Now, ten years later, society is centered around the lifestyle and limitations of the creatures of the night, but an abundance of blood suckers means that humans, and more importantly their blood, have become a valuable commodity. Ethan Hawke plays Edward Dalton, a reluctant vampire (who, true to form, avoids human blood in favor of the animal kind) who is chief- hematologist for a domineering corporation. Both Dalton’s interest in not eating humans, as well as the fading food supply, has the hematologist in pursuit of a blood alternative, but as the vampire doctor falls in with a group of human rebels, he discovers he may be able to develop something even more powerful – a cure.

In many ways, Daybreakers fits the formula of the post-apocalyptic science-fiction movie. There’s a dominant corporation, humanity is in dregs, etc. The difference here is that Daybreakers follows a burgeoning society in that post-apocalyptic world: the vampires. Seeing the subtle changes that have been made specifically for a vampire society is quite interesting, and the movie’s science-fiction setting is really well thought out, from car modifications allowing daytime driving, to dealing with issues like vampires not casting a reflection.

Daybreakers also expands into territory most contemporary vamp-tales ignore – not everyone wants to be a vampire. Characters like Edward Cullen make it look so dreamy to live the life of a night stalker, but here we see quite a few people turned against their will. The way characters cope with their condition is fascinating to see, including people like Dalton who search for alternatives to the opening where a little girl, eternally stuck at a young age, finds another solution. The idea that people wouldn’t want to be vampires eludes some characters, like Sam Neil’s CEO Charles Bromley, who turns his daughter over the course of the story. That makes the vampirism cure element of the storyline even more interesting – it’s not the central MacGuffin, at least not at the start of the film. Instead it’s something that is developed over the course of the movie.

The movie carries a hefty amount of recognizable actors, including the aforementioned Hawke and Neill, as well as Willem Dafoe. Unfortunately, it’s not a story that really challenges any of the actors. The performances feel canned, reproduced from other roles the actors have played previously. Take a pot of vampiric storyline, add Hawke’s Gattaca character, toss in Neill’s rendition of Damien in The Omen, add Dafoe’s Wild at Heart performance, sprinkle with just a touch of Blade Runner and The Matrix for style, and blend until finished. The result is a movie that contains a talented bunch of people who are underused in an otherwise interesting story.

Dumped into one of the worst times of the year for new releases, Daybreakers deserves a better treatment. It’s certainly better than a lot of movies I’ve seen released this time of year. At the same time, it’s not quite up to summer blockbuster standings, despite a recognizable cast. If you’re tired of living in the Twilight times of vampires, however, Daybreakers is a nice change of pace; a well thought out setting that allows vampires to be the monsters they should be.

- Rafe Telsch